Mike Cleary, from the Celebrities and Prizefighters series (N174) for Gypsy Queen Cigarettes 1887 - 1888

This is a carte-de-visite of boxer Mike Cleary, produced in the United States as a promotional item for Gypsy Queen Cigarettes. The image speaks to the commercialization of celebrity at the turn of the century, reflecting a growing culture of mass media and consumerism. Note how the conventions of classical statuary are evoked to ennoble Cleary. The backdrop creates an idealized space, while the boxer’s pose and physique reference the Western art historical canon. At the time, boxing occupied a controversial place in popular culture, seen by some as a vulgar spectacle and by others as a legitimate sport embodying masculine ideals of strength and discipline. The institutional history here lies in the cigarette company’s clever exploitation of celebrity culture to market its product. To fully understand it, we might consult archives of advertising and marketing, as well as studies of the period's popular culture. Studying such ephemera sheds light on the social values and economic forces shaping the production and consumption of images in a specific time.