Baldwin, Pitcher, Chicago, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

Editor: Here we have a piece called "Baldwin, Pitcher, Chicago, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes" made in 1887 by Goodwin & Company. It seems to be a printed portrait of a baseball player on aged paper. I'm curious, what does this image evoke for you? Curator: This portrait, embedded within a cigarette card, speaks volumes about the intertwining of celebrity, commerce, and cultural values. Consider the baseball player himself as a modern-day hero. He is rendered as a contemporary icon of American prowess. The brand name hovering above him isn’t just advertising cigarettes, it's imbuing the figure with an aura of judgment, linking success and admiration to a product. It's as though smoking these cigarettes might somehow bestow the same characteristics of this famous player on you. Do you think the advertisement adds meaning to the artwork, or do you see it the other way around? Editor: That's interesting. I mostly focused on the baseball player. But you're right, the “Old Judge” suggests this authority. Curator: Precisely! The card format itself is also fascinating. Think about how these small, easily distributed images helped solidify Baldwin's fame but also reflect a broader democratization of art. Art, at the time, wasn’t locked away in a gallery for the upper class; now, art exists in the hands of the masses, connecting aspiration, consumption, and collective identity. How do we continue to see modern parallels to this phenomenon today? Editor: I hadn't considered the democratization aspect. It makes you think about how images of celebrities function in our social media landscape today. Thank you for this perspective! Curator: It's always insightful to see how past forms of cultural expression echo into our present, and, indeed, our futures.