Welch, Center Field, Philadelphia Athletics, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

Curator: The piece we're looking at is a baseball card titled "Welch, Center Field, Philadelphia Athletics" produced around 1888 by Goodwin & Company as part of their Old Judge Cigarettes series. Editor: First thought? He looks like he’s trying to sell me something rather than swing for the fences. Maybe snake oil and a baseball bat combo. Curator: Haha! Goodwin & Company weren't selling snake oil, but they were cleverly leveraging the popularity of baseball to boost cigarette sales. These cards were inserted as premiums into cigarette packs. Think of it as the late 19th century's version of digital advertising! The photo itself likely taken in a studio. Editor: I get that it’s an advert, but look at the sepia tones. It's as if the past is gently aging the present, or maybe that is how marketing sold you hope in a pack of ciggies. What were the real chances he ever played looking like this guy? Curator: These cards became a crucial medium for disseminating sports figures, and even shaping celebrity. Before mass media, these offered one of the primary ways people connected to these players. The 'Old Judge' series included hundreds of different players and became hugely collectible, documenting an early era of professional baseball. Editor: Absolutely! Plus, the fact that these fragile cardboard images have survived, I'm suddenly feeling less skeptical, and appreciating his place as both an athlete, a symbol and also an ad man? A testament, to fleeting fame, or to our love for nostalgia packaged and sold to us even then? Curator: I think that is nicely put. It certainly highlights the way material culture acts as a repository of memory, experience and evolving aspirations! Editor: It does, right? Seeing this now I would love to pick his brain, to experience the turn of the 20th century...or maybe to have the same marketing budget of Goodwin and Co, to reach so many new eyeballs! Curator: In short, this is an extremely important photo-based commercial item that acts as a reflection of culture at the time. Thanks! Editor: Thanks too! It may be snake oil, but still pretty charming, and who doesn't want to hold the past, one fragile card at a time.