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History
of Collectable Sports Cards
The hobby of collecting sports cards dates from the second half of the 19th century, well over one hundred years ago.
Baseball players began to pose for group and individual pictures, much like
members of other clubs and associations. Some of these photographs were
printed onto small cards similar to modern wallet photos. As baseball
increased in popularity and became a professional
sport during the late 1860s, a sporting goods store named Peck and Snyder
began producing trading
cards featuring baseball teams. Peck and Snyder sold baseball
equipment, and the cards were a natural advertising
vehicle. The Peck and Snyder cards are sometimes considered the first
sports cards. Others consider Goodwin & Co., maker of Old Judge and Gypsy Queen cigarette brands
to be the first company to produce sports cards. The first sports cards were small by today’s standards, 1-1/2 inches by 2-1/2 inches, and printed on thick cardboard. The Old Judge picture cards were issued from 1886 to 1890 and more than 2000 different baseball cards from that set have been cataloged, not to mention the many cards made for other sports and non sports.
Goodwin & Co. success in marketing baseball cards and other picture cards with their cigarettes lead other tobacco companies to issue sets of their own, and by 1909 to 1911 the American Tobacco Company made the T-206 set with the famous Honus Wagner card. In turn companies in other industries including candy, caramel, and gum makers used baseball cards as premiums to sell their products.
The Topps Company dominated the chewing gum/sports card industry for years until it lost an anti-monopoly lawsuit in 1980, and in 1981 Fleer and Donruss
produced major sets of sports cards. Not long after that baseball cards became more important than the gum
in the packs and sports cards became an industry of it’s own. New companies like Score, Upper Deck, and Pacific started making cards and the competition led to the high-tech sports cards we have today with the many
different brands of cards being made.
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A premier resource for collectible football
cards
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Baseball Cards
Gem Baseball Cards
Craig
Biggio
Rookie graded gem mint by PSA.
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