Townsend, Catcher, Philadelphia Athletics, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

Editor: Here we have an albumen print from 1888, “Townsend, Catcher, Philadelphia Athletics,” part of the Old Judge Cigarettes series by Goodwin & Company. It's fascinating how clear the photo is, given its age! I’m struck by the casual, almost posed nature of the image. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Look closely at the albumen print itself. Its production speaks volumes about late 19th-century capitalism. The silver salts, the paper stock – each component sourced, manufactured, and distributed within a burgeoning industrial system. What kind of labor created these objects? The process was very much about mass production. Think of the players; they became products to market things like cigarettes! Editor: That’s a very different way to look at it. I was thinking of the aesthetics. Curator: Aesthetics are often intrinsically linked to production. Consider the materiality: Why albumen, specifically? Because it was relatively cheap and yielded a crisp image for the era. These prints, distributed with cigarettes, functioned as advertising and collectibles simultaneously. We are thinking about production in terms of art *and* marketing. How many were produced, consumed, and discarded? Editor: So, it's about the layers of making – not just the picture, but the print itself. It becomes almost sculptural as a social artifact, representing baseball, advertising, labor. Curator: Exactly! Each photograph speaks volumes not just about Townsend, but about the cultural and economic forces that shaped his image and its circulation. How does considering the photograph’s materiality shift your perspective on it? Editor: I guess it’s not just a baseball player; it's a commodity. Considering the materials and how it was circulated really adds to the picture. Thank you!