Bill George, Pitcher, New York, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

Editor: This is "Bill George, Pitcher, New York, from the Old Judge series" by Goodwin & Company, dated 1887. It's a baseball card, so it's pretty small, a vintage print. The sepia tone gives it a real sense of history. What strikes you about this image? Curator: Immediately, I see a material object deeply embedded in the social fabric of its time. This isn't just a picture of a baseball player; it's an advertisement, a commodity produced to sell cigarettes. Look at the way the player’s image is secondary to the “Old Judge Cigarettes” banner above his head, the brand literally crowning him. How does this positioning shift your understanding of George and his value? Editor: So, you’re saying his worth as an athlete is almost… overwritten by his function as a marketing tool? It's a really different perspective. Curator: Precisely! And think about the production of these cards. Photography was becoming increasingly accessible, fueling mass production. These cards democratized art to a degree, bringing images of popular figures to a wider audience through mass-produced commercial items. It's worth asking, who had access to baseball and cigarettes at this time and place, and how did these products relate to ideas about gender, class, and leisure? Editor: It's easy to just see a baseball card and not think about all the layers underneath, who made it, why, and for whom. Curator: Right, consider the paper itself. It’s aged and toned, signs of its own materiality and history of mass production, hinting at a consumer culture taking hold. The baseball player, the cigarettes, the mass-produced card...it’s all interwoven into a web of material relationships. I think what’s interesting, here, is considering who really “owns” the image or the likeness that has been produced here. Editor: That’s really made me rethink how I see something like a baseball card. I wouldn't have thought to consider the implications of the commercial aspect so thoroughly. Curator: And I think you’ve helped me to reflect on the democratizing power of making and materials. There’s a rich tension between profit motives and audience.