George Edward "Ed" Andrews, Center Field, Philadelphia, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

Curator: Here we have a baseball card from 1888. It features George Edward "Ed" Andrews, a center fielder for Philadelphia. These cards were produced by Goodwin & Company for Old Judge Cigarettes. Editor: It’s amazing how something so small—really just a piece of paper—captures a whole era. The sepia tones, the way the player is posed… It feels incredibly nostalgic. Curator: Absolutely. These cards weren't just about baseball; they were promotional tools, incentives to buy cigarettes. Consider the cultural impact—tobacco companies shaping popular perceptions of sports figures. The politics of that imagery are really telling. Editor: What strikes me is how posed it is, yet also captures some essence of the game. I am very much intrigued by the relationship to materiality. We see photographs here trying to represent the feel of a real-time experience like the sport, reduced to paper and ink, commodities produced at scale. Curator: The photographic process itself was relatively new then. The way the athlete is represented here contributed to his celebrity status. It's about image construction as much as athleticism. Notice also the name "Old Judge". These objects constructed heroes and associated them with ideas about ideal, respectable masculinity tied to consumption and leisure. Editor: I agree completely. Think about the laborers involved in every step from planting and curing tobacco to printing these cards, it represents a whole production ecosystem. Also, this tension with it being a photo but evoking drawings or sketching somehow—I find that interesting and significant. Curator: Certainly, this card shows that interplay. The circulation of these images built narratives. Editor: This baseball card speaks volumes about how sports, commerce, and art intersect. Curator: I couldn’t agree more. A small card, a huge story.