John Montgomery Ward, Captain and Shortstop, New York, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

Editor: This is an 1887 baseball card, a photo-print by Goodwin & Company, part of their "Old Judge Cigarettes" series. It depicts John Montgomery Ward, a captain and shortstop for New York. I find the pose interesting – almost theatrical. What do you see in this piece beyond a simple advertisement? Curator: Well, think about what it *isn't*. It's not some perfectly posed, sanitized depiction of athletic prowess. Instead, there's this beautiful, slightly awkward quality. The sepia tones lend this incredible nostalgic feel, almost like looking at a faded memory. There is this beautiful awkwardness of this very early method of capturing people, creating the strange composition in sepia tones that feels like a faded memory. Isn’t it marvelous to imagine who might have first slipped it out of a pack of cigarettes? Editor: That’s a great point! It feels much more human and relatable than the hyper-stylized sports images we see today. And placing it within the Old Judge Cigarettes series... does that tell us anything about the perception of athletes at that time? Curator: Absolutely. Embedding him in a commercial context acknowledges athletes as celebrities. The baseball player is commodified into a consumable commodity, aligning health with... cigarettes. Funny, right? He transcends mere athletic skill; he becomes a cultural icon, associated with lifestyle and aspiration. Almost aspirational smoking… isn't that an oxymoron for the ages? Editor: It does put a different spin on the whole healthy athlete image. Curator: Precisely! This little card, seemingly simple, actually unearths fascinating complexities about early sports culture, celebrity, and consumerism, and how they intertwined, quite literally, with the products people used every day. Makes you wonder what future archaeologists will think of our energy-drink-sponsored athletes, doesn't it? Editor: Definitely gives me something to ponder! Thanks for shedding light on this; I now understand how much this card represents.