Albert C. "Al" Buckenberger, Manager, Cleveland, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1889

Curator: This image, titled "Albert C. 'Al' Buckenberger, Manager, Cleveland," is from the Old Judge series created by Goodwin & Company in 1889 as part of their advertising campaign for Old Judge Cigarettes. It’s a photographic print. What strikes you immediately? Editor: A sort of melancholy. He has kind eyes, but that moustache speaks of the industrial revolution… And it’s amazing what an enormous platform cigarettes used to have for broadcasting, well, just about anything, isn’t it? Curator: Precisely. Consider the materiality of this print, produced on a mass scale as a trade card insert. The subject, Buckenberger, was a prominent baseball manager; Goodwin was trying to market their cigarettes, creating a direct link between consumer habits and leisure culture. Editor: Cigarettes and baseball, the peanut butter and jelly of late 19th century America! I love that it's trying so hard to appear serious—a businessman—but you just know he’d be chewing tobacco on the pitch, too, with that very moustache making his decisions. Curator: I appreciate your emphasis on the humor! But, the print’s production also offers insight into labor practices of the time. Consider the factory workers involved in printing, cutting, and inserting these cards into cigarette packs—a whole economy. Editor: Yes, absolutely, we’re also talking about an entire network, and the beginnings of modern advertising—it's about creating desire. The picture’s function in circulation changes its very being as a representation of a man, now an instrument for commodity exchange! Curator: The success of the Old Judge series also signals the intertwining of celebrity culture and capitalist expansion. Editor: And I guess that melancholic feeling comes from the awareness of this intersection. It's charming, in a way, because you sense the roots of all that's still plaguing us today. Curator: That's a fantastic summation! We get to examine baseball, capitalism, and personal reflection. It provides us with an intersectional view. Editor: Couldn't have said it better myself. Let’s step up to the next piece, shall we?