Samuel Leech Maskrey, Right Field, Des Moines Prohibitionists, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes

Curator: This is a baseball card featuring Samuel Leech Maskrey, right fielder for the Des Moines Prohibitionists, part of the "Old Judge" series produced in 1888 by Goodwin & Company. Editor: There's something immediately captivating about the sepia tones and the figure’s stance – tense, ready. It feels very grounded, almost tangible despite its age. Curator: These cards were originally included as advertising inserts in Old Judge Cigarettes. Consider how tobacco companies were leveraging popular sports figures to promote their product. This points to the rise of commercialized sports culture, really using celebrities for endorsement well before what we consider modern sports marketing. Editor: That is fascinating from a commercial standpoint. I'm drawn to the materiality though. It's a photograph that becomes a print. And then, to be carried around as advertisement that is then, essentially, trash once the cigarettes are consumed but something transforms and survives and ends up here in the Met. Its value is changed and renegotiated over time through consumerism, use, preservation, and finally, institutionalization. Curator: Exactly. These cards were a mass-produced, readily available commodity. Its accessibility made it wildly popular. That initial cheapness almost feels deceptive now looking at it hanging in a museum. We are far removed from the mass consumerism this card encouraged, though, and we tend to view them instead as collectibles. Editor: And even the image itself reinforces this mass production. His uniform appears almost generic, identifiable but not quite personal; he's a representative more than an individual. This suggests how labor and individuals were becoming components within this manufacturing framework, which included sport, photography and tobacco. It seems like all things were for sale back then. Curator: It's an important intersection. Think of what this baseball card reflects: growing advertising industries and its intersection with both professional sports and tobacco use, it reflects American leisure activity at that time. Editor: So true. In its initial context, this card facilitated smoking; within its context now in the gallery space, we use it to try to expand a collection, advance education and expand access to culture. This material object allows a reflection upon consumerism, institutionalization, history and the labor behind baseball. It packs quite a punch, so to speak! Curator: Absolutely. Considering it's from the late 19th century, it's a strong indicator of American’s early consumer culture and highlights just how influential popular figures became within it.