Thomas "Tom" Tarlton Brown, Center Field, Pittsburgh, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge and Gypsy Queen Cigarettes 1887

Editor: Here we have an albumen print from 1887, a baseball card featuring Thomas "Tom" Tarlton Brown, a center fielder for Pittsburgh. It's part of the "Old Judge" series by Goodwin & Company for cigarette promotion. It's sepia toned and feels like a snapshot into a bygone era. How should we interpret its meaning beyond being just a collectible? Curator: These baseball cards, especially those like this one circulated by cigarette companies, are fascinating artifacts of a burgeoning sports culture intertwined with commercial interests and rapidly evolving technologies in late 19th-century America. Consider that these were not just innocent promotions; they actively worked to normalize and encourage cigarette use, impacting public health. How does knowing it’s promotional material for cigarettes change how you perceive Brown? Editor: I hadn’t thought of the cigarette promotion aspect so directly, I guess I was focused on baseball's nostalgic appeal! It feels different now, a little darker. Curator: Precisely. Moreover, mass-produced imagery like this started shaping celebrity culture. Before this era, portraits were largely confined to the elite. Photography and printmaking democratized image creation and distribution. Brown's image became a commodity, shaping his identity. Also, it promoted the specific brand and product of this tobacco business. It becomes intertwined, then, with the business of fame. How would you describe that transition? Editor: I guess it shows how the game and the players began to exist within the capitalist structure in a new way... beyond just the sport itself. Before it's really possible. It shows how something as seemingly wholesome as baseball was used to sell harmful products, offering a more complete picture of the era. Thanks, this was very enlightening! Curator: And thank you. Seeing historical artifacts in light of their promotional purposes is a great reminder about media representation and power dynamics!