Myron Smith Allen, Left Field, Kansas City Cowboys, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This is a baseball card of Myron Smith Allen, left fielder for the Kansas City Cowboys. It was produced in 1888 by Goodwin & Company as part of the "Old Judge" series of cigarette cards. This card exists within a cultural moment of emerging mass media and advertising. Allen, a white man, is presented as an idealized figure of athleticism and American masculinity. Note the almost staged quality of the image, a stark contrast to the candid, gritty realities of industrial America at the time. The card, distributed with cigarettes, links athleticism with consumption and pleasure, creating a potent symbol of late 19th-century aspirations. These cards, like much of the media of their time, participate in the construction of celebrity and the commercialization of identity. They offer a lens through which we can examine how cultural values were manufactured and disseminated. While seemingly simple, it reflects broader societal trends and ideologies, prompting us to consider who is included, who is excluded, and what stories are being told—or left untold.