William "California" Brown, Catcher, New York, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

Curator: This albumen print from 1888 is titled "William 'California' Brown, Catcher, New York" and it was made for Old Judge Cigarettes by Goodwin & Company. The image captures a baseball player, posed mid-action. Editor: There's an immediacy to it, despite its age. You feel a certain stoicism and resilience looking at his stance; also the way the sepia tone enhances the vintage feeling, doesn’t it? Curator: Absolutely. Think of the symbol of the baseball player: he’s on the cusp of modernity. He is part laborer, part performer, caught between nineteenth century notions of industry, work ethic, and emergent commercial entertainment and leisure. And it being a cigarette card—this links production, consumption, and image circulation in compelling ways. Editor: Precisely. It's intriguing to consider the working conditions of both the players and those involved in printing these cards, especially given that albumen prints rely on egg whites. Consider the scale of egg production needed. Were these studio portraits, or did they lug their equipment to the baseball fields? The labor involved, both visible and invisible, shapes our understanding of this seemingly simple image. Curator: And within this cultural snapshot, we also see a figure that reflects the romanticized and almost mythical “Wild West” of the American frontier; calling him 'California' further reinforces his link to a rugged individuality and potential, even aspiration of movement across geography. Baseball itself carries notions of collective endeavor and aspiration of upward social movement. It mirrors shifts in labor itself. Editor: Thinking about mass production in contrast with manual labor in terms of the material of the card makes me appreciate the value of early techniques in photography—to mass produce something tangible still hinged upon the manipulation of raw materials. It wasn't all automated, really. The trace of the hand remains. Curator: The hand as creator, consumer, manipulator...It gives so much to consider beyond the immediate picture! Editor: Exactly. It moves between nostalgia, industry, material and social history to expose broader dynamics of production and society!