W.F. Dahlen, Shortstop, Chicago, from Mayo's Cut Plug Baseball series (N300) 1895

Editor: So this is "W.F. Dahlen, Shortstop, Chicago" from the Mayo's Cut Plug Baseball series, dating back to 1895. It looks like a photographic print, a portrait meant for a baseball card. It’s pretty straightforward, but the "For Chewing and Smoking" text underneath Dahlen’s name makes me wonder. What can you tell me about this? Curator: Notice how the portrait is framed and reproduced. It is a byproduct of industrial printing used for commercial goods: tobacco products. This challenges notions of art’s "purity." Consider the raw materials – paper, ink, photographic chemicals. These humble ingredients, through processes of mass production, create both art and advertising. Who were the laborers involved in each step, from growing tobacco to printing the cards? Editor: That makes me consider the labor of baseball too. This card turns Dahlen into a commodity. The means of making art intersects with capitalist mechanisms. Curator: Exactly! We often separate "art" from everyday items. But these cards collapse that distinction. Look at the deliberate juxtaposition of Dahlen’s image with the text, "For Chewing and Smoking". How might this impact the way consumers viewed him and his role in consumerist culture? Editor: I guess that ties into celebrity culture. This card used Dahlen to move the Mayo's product, using his status to influence people. Thanks! Curator: Think about the distribution of these cards. They circulated widely, entering homes, pockets, and communities. Their value isn't inherent but produced through this circulation. Examining that opens a new level of meaning in the artwork, or rather, in this commercial item.