Jack Fogarty, from the Celebrities and Prizefighters series (N174) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887 - 1888

Curator: Wow, that sepia tone! It’s like a little ghost from another era has just materialized in front of us. It almost feels melancholic, despite the boxer's stance. Editor: Indeed. This is "Jack Fogarty, from the Celebrities and Prizefighters series (N174) for Old Judge Cigarettes," dating from 1887 to 1888. It's fascinating as an artifact embedded in both sports history and the early advertising industry. Think about the performative masculinity, here commodified via a consumer product. Curator: It's funny, seeing something so, shall we say, macho being used to sell…cigarettes? But it makes a certain sense in a twisted way. He’s got that boxer’s grimace—focused and intense, yet this is meant to make you light up a smoke! There’s a peculiar tension between the athleticism and the vice. Editor: Absolutely. The image, though it appears simple, reveals so much about the intertwining of leisure, celebrity, and commerce at the turn of the century. Consider how this type of promotional image normalizes smoking and elevates sports figures to almost god-like status—powerful endorsements of what to consume and who to admire. Curator: There’s also this sense of theatricality. The backdrop looks like some hastily painted canvas, right? The whole image feels staged. He’s posing more than preparing for a real match. Like, I wonder if the picture tries too hard to emphasize virility, perhaps masking vulnerabilities? Editor: That's astute. The artifice reminds us that photographic representations are always constructed. The pose, the lighting, the deliberate framing within this small card format—they all contribute to a particular narrative of the prizefighter. In truth, we see both what it reveals and, perhaps more significantly, what it strategically conceals about identity, class, and labor during this period. Curator: So, it’s more than just a sepia-toned photo in this case? Editor: Exactly. It’s an artifact of complex socio-political narratives—a testament to the ways images circulate, influencing perception and normalizing cultural ideals. Curator: A punchy point well-delivered. Now I see how much more meaning those "Old Judge Cigarettes" carry when looking at it now!