Sunday, Center Field, Chicago, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

Editor: This is a fascinating albumen print from 1887 titled "Sunday, Center Field, Chicago, from the Old Judge series," made by Goodwin & Company for Old Judge Cigarettes. The image has a sepia tone, and seeing this baseball player immortalized in a cigarette card just has me wondering, what's the story behind the blending of advertising, sport, and photography? Curator: Precisely! We see more than just a simple portrait here. This card represents the commodification of sport and the rise of mass culture. Consider the material itself—an albumen print, relatively inexpensive to produce, attached to a cigarette pack. It’s not high art, it’s disposable, intended to be collected but ultimately consumed, just like the cigarettes it advertised. Editor: So, it's the means of production, the inexpensive material, and the link to cigarette consumption that are key here? Curator: Absolutely. The Goodwin company utilized new photographic technology and mass printing techniques, creating a culture of collection and driving sales. This "Sunday, Center Field" card blurs lines – is it a portrait, or is it really an early advertisement? How does the value of "sporting art" then, come into question here, or is this simply advertising ephemera that survives into the current day? Editor: I guess I hadn't considered the inherent value of these pieces as, at the time, disposable promotional items. Thank you, this helps me to reframe what "art" even means. Curator: And consider how our perspective may continue to shift depending on which "market" consumes and values these material traces of baseball history.