Shomberg, 1st Base, Indianapolis, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

Curator: This collotype print, dating back to 1887, features a portrait of Shomberg, a first baseman for Indianapolis, as part of the "Old Judge Cigarettes" series produced by Goodwin & Company. Editor: The sepia tones give it an antique feel, but there’s a sharpness to the figure of Shomberg. He looks almost like he could step right out of the card and into a baseball diamond, poised and ready to swing. Curator: Indeed, these cards were produced en masse to be included in cigarette packs, serving as both advertisement and collectible. The baseball craze was beginning, and tobacco companies capitalized on the sport's popularity. Editor: Think about the material process - collotype, a printing method utilizing a glass plate coated with light-sensitive gelatin, allowed for subtle tonal variations. It hints at a hand-made process combined with industrial reproduction, intended for wide circulation and ultimate disposability. What a concept! Curator: It is interesting how a utilitarian object gained social capital in that time. Players like Shomberg became recognizable, contributing to a sense of community. They were the sports celebrities of the late 19th century, circulated not through mass media as we know it, but through consumer goods. Editor: Absolutely. Also the card’s survival, its material presence after over a century, speaks to a shift in value. What started as commercial ephemera is now a sought-after artifact, elevated in status by its age and association with early baseball history. It's fascinating how the association with mass consumption can influence lasting value. Curator: These cards also document early baseball uniforms and aesthetics – the caps, the slightly baggy uniforms. It offers a glimpse into the evolving presentation of professional athletes and the construction of sporting heroes. Editor: Seeing it today, it is impossible to separate the image from its context—a symbol of athletic fame manufactured and marketed through cigarettes. A tangible link between recreation, commerce, and health that’s unsettlingly frank, if we're being frank ourselves. Curator: It reveals the historical relationship between tobacco companies and baseball, an association with marketing campaigns directed to young men as they constructed identity around work, leisure and sport. The history is a study in the institutional support for cultural norms. Editor: A beautiful example of how labor and industry create art and culture—or vice-versa! It really causes one to reevaluate our contemporary means of cultural production and commodification, to consider its legacy for today's athlete's identity.