The History of Baseball Cards

Baseball cards have a very

broad history. In the beginning, god made man. Then, man

produced........ the baseball card. From 1887 to the

present, billions of baseball cards have been produced.

Some cards are valued at ten cents, while others, are

valued at over one hundred thousand dollars. Since 1887,

Baseball cards have been a major part of many people's

lives. The Beginning of the baseball card collecting era

would lead cards to a path of greatness and immortality.

The first baseball cards were made of a cloth like material.

Many of these cards were "home made" (SCD)*. No one

but the creator of these cards, (there all dead) knows for

sure what exactly was used to produce these early cards.

This time period started on 1887 and continued on until

1901. The 1887 baseball cards were part of a unique set.

Not only did this set contain baseball cards, but it also

contained boxing. golf, and horse racing cards. These cards

are very high in value because of their rarity and because

they are some of the early baseball cards. The common

card is worth around $800. All of these cards are common,

considering that there were no star athletes back then.

There were not many cards sizes during this time period.

The only size that I could find was one and a half inches by

two inches. There were many company's that manufactured

cards during this time period. They were: Mayo Tobacco

Works, Buchner, Kimball's, Old Judge, Allen & Ginter,

and Goodwin (SCD). These cards are rare, but are not

very difficult to obtain if you're willing to pay top dollar.

What many collectors call "the golden years of baseball",

took place from 1902 until 1935. One reason that

collectors call this time period that is because cards took

many different changes during this era. Cards were starting

to be packaged with Chewing Tobacco, crackerjacks, and

Chewing gum. The value of cards during this time period

depends on many different factors. A large percent of these

cards have misprints (flaws). Because of these misprints, a

card may have a higher value than the exact same card

because of a misprint. The reason there were so many

misprints was because the card industry was just starting to

experiment with the printing process (SCD). The most

expensive baseball card of all time was produced during

this era. That card was the Honus Wagner T-206

produced in 1909. The reason that this card is so

expensive is because only 4 of these cards were ever

produced. Honus Wagner didn't want kids buying tobacco

for the Baseball cards. One of the Wagners sold at an

auction recently for 451,500 to Wayne Gretzky (SCD).

There were three main sizes of baseball cards during this

time period. One of the sizes was the "tobacco" size cards.

These cards were one and a half inches by two inches. The

second card size was a rectangular sheet of three cards.

These were about two inches by five and one fourth inches.

The third and final size was a square about two inches by

two inches. Cards were packaged with chewing tobacco,

cracker jacks, chewing gum, and cigarettes (SCD). Many

company's produced cards during this era. Some of the

major manufactures were : Piedmont, Sovereign, Ramly,

Hassan, Mecca and Turkey Red. The T-2.. series is very

common at card shows. With the exception of the Honus

Wagner, most of these cards can be acquired for a

reasonable price. From 1936 until 1960, not much

happened in the card collecting era. Three major changes

occurred during this time period. The cards themselves

changed to a size that would carry them to present time.

Also, two ground breaking companies would arrive and

last until the 21st century. The value of the 30's and 40's

cards is around forty dollars for a semi-star (BKM)*. The

value of the 50's cards is a little higher at forty five dollars

for the semi- star. Mickey Mantle's rookie is included in the

1952 Bowman set. It is valued at $9,000 . Also, another

Mantle , his '52 Topps is worth $35,000 (BKM, SCD,

TUFF*). The 60's common cards are worth between one

dollar and five dollars. There were two main card sizes

from 1936 to 1960. The first was two and a half inches by

three and one eighth