Foot Race, from the Games and Sports series (N165) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1889

Editor: Here we have "Foot Race," from the Games and Sports series, a print made with watercolor and colored pencil around 1889 by Goodwin & Company. It seems almost like two separate images mashed together, a sporting scene and a portrait. What strikes you most about this piece? Curator: I’m drawn to that very dichotomy you’ve noticed. Consider the historical context: advertising trade cards circulated widely, reflecting societal values and norms. Juxtaposing athletic prowess, implicitly male, with the portrait of a woman raises questions. Who is she? Why is she framed so ornately, separate from the action? Editor: So, it's less about a literal foot race and more about a deeper societal narrative? Curator: Precisely. Is she an idealized representation of feminine beauty meant to adorn and elevate the scene of male competition, or is her inclusion a deliberate comment on the limited roles available to women at the time? Consider that sports were becoming increasingly codified and masculinized during this period. The positioning here isn't accidental. It's deeply coded. What do you notice about her gaze? Editor: She’s looking off to the side, almost… wistful? Like she’s observing but not participating. Curator: Exactly! And how does that observation, from the margins, challenge the assumed centrality of the foot race, of male endeavor? The card might subtly critique the era's gendered expectations, highlighting the simultaneous admiration and marginalization of women in public life. The print can be regarded as the depiction of enforced societal limits. Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way at all. Now it seems like a small but pointed commentary. I’ll never see these old trade cards the same way again. Curator: Precisely the point. Question everything; that’s where the most exciting interpretations emerge.