Robert Emmerke, Pitcher, Des Moines Prohibitionists, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1889

Curator: This, friends, is "Robert Emmerke, Pitcher, Des Moines Prohibitionists," part of the "Old Judge" series, made for Old Judge Cigarettes around 1889. Think of it—baseball, prohibitionists, and… cigarettes all in one tidy little package. Editor: It has a nostalgic charm that I wasn't expecting. All those sepia tones create such a unified, flattened field. Look how the subtle gradation suggests form without relying on heavy shadow. It’s deceptively sophisticated. Curator: Oh, absolutely! It's more than just a portrait of a baseball player. These cards were really about creating a sense of identity, and kind of stoking those fires. And a great promotional gimmick! I mean, imagine collecting your heroes on cigarette cards? I’d be hooked—for better or worse, cough, cough. Editor: Precisely! The "Old Judge Cigarette Factory" is so prominently displayed at the bottom. I see it as this semiotic interplay—linking athletic prowess with the consumerism of the era, and the very construction of masculine identity. The way he holds the bat, nearly parallel to the ground... almost theatrical, wouldn't you agree? Curator: Oh totally, and the lighting on the baseball bat! You can practically smell the sweat, sawdust, and desperation, and then that one weird chemical in old cigarette ads that seemed somehow attractive in your day. It's totally intoxicating! Even with the guy holding the thing I want, I want to smoke some terrible cigarette myself right away! Editor: Though modest, its effects are striking. The almost monochromatic rendering serves to unify figure and ground. One gets the impression of a subject existing within an immutable amber wash of photographic time. A testament, if ever there was one, to a kind of pre-Pop artistic endeavor! Curator: I love the old "Prohibitionists" tag. The layers of history and social commentary just keep unravelling like... well, a very, very long ash from a cheap cigar. Editor: An interesting artifact of a bygone era. Let's move on.