Leon A. "Lee" Viau, Pitcher, Cincinnati, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

Curator: Let's talk about this rather curious artifact: a baseball card dating back to 1888. It's a portrait of Leon A. "Lee" Viau, a pitcher for Cincinnati, part of the Old Judge series of baseball cards produced for Old Judge Cigarettes. The firm Goodwin & Company was behind these prints, advertising, and the growing sports culture. Editor: It's surprisingly striking. The sepia tone gives it an antique quality, obviously, but also this very tangible sense of an object crafted industrially for massive consumption—yet still retaining a specific feel. Is it a drawing or a photograph? Curator: It appears to be a photographic print, likely from a glass plate negative, with some hand-drawn enhancements to sharpen the image. Consider how these cards were among the earliest forms of advertising for both baseball and cigarettes. Think of them as promoting both commodities at once. Editor: Yes, you can feel the machinery behind the image itself, almost an early exercise in mass media creation. It is small—one can almost sense the weight of labour concentrated in such objects when it was probably one in hundreds made per day. This card isn't just about baseball; it’s about industrial capabilities and new means of product promotion that started gaining popularity at the time. Curator: Exactly. Baseball itself was becoming increasingly organized and professionalized during this era, mirroring the rise of industrial capitalism and consumer culture. These cards played a crucial role in constructing a cult of personality around individual athletes, building narratives that captured the public imagination and fostered fandom, and eventually, capitalisation. Editor: It makes one ponder on the material and the work involved: The photographer, the baseball player's work, the manufacturing workers at the Old Judge Cigarette Factory and those who circulated the promotional materials—a vast network feeding an economic and cultural surge. I would like to consider all such implications, as this humble material tells a story that encompasses much. Curator: Precisely, and in its own way, the image has preserved and enhanced the narratives. What we see on the surface– a simple athlete – really carries so many different cultural, social, and economical layers to uncover. Editor: So in a humble mass-produced baseball card, a whole era's manufacturing and sporting past converge, mediated by tobacco!