In 1962, Post Cereal released their second series of baseball cards included in cereal boxes. The cards were part of Post’s popular promotional baseball card inserts that aimed to attract children to eat their breakfast cereals. What made the 1962 Post cards unique was that they were printed on large cardboard sheets rather than individual trading cards. Each sheet contained 16 cards arranged in a 4×4 grid. Over 52 million of these cardboard sheets were included in Post cereals from February to May 1962, making them one of the most widely produced and collected vintage sports card issues of all time.
The 1962 Post cereal baseball card sheets featured photos of Major League Baseball players from the 1961 season. The 16 players depicted included Hall of Famers Warren Spahn, Stan Musial, and Duke Snider, as well as stars Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and others. The front of each card displayed a black and white photo of the player along with their name, team, and position. The backs featured basic career statistics and a short bio. The cardboard sheets had a thin wax paper layer on the front that allowed for the cards to be peeled off individually. Collectors and kids who enjoyed the cards would carefully separate each member of the sheet to start building their baseball card collections.
What made these cardboard sheets of cards so ubiquitous was Post’s marketing muscle behind the promotion. In 1961, Post had generated interest with its first baseball card insert that were individual cards distributed among its many breakfast cereals like Grape-Nuts, Pep, and Sugar Crisp. For the 1962 series, Post doubled down with their cardboard sheet format. The company blanketed American grocery stores, variety stores, gas stations—almost any retailer—with colorful poster advertisements and displays hyping the baseball trading cards found in Post cereal boxes. The cereal giant made sure parents knew that kids could acquire a complete Want List of baseball greats by purchasing multiple boxes of cereal.
Post’s strategy succeeded in made their 1962 baseball card sheets the must-have collectible for children. It was common for kids to pool their duplicated cards so they could trade with friends to complete the set. Meanwhile, adults who collected cards themselves would often send away box top proofs of purchase and a small fee to Post in exchange for the unseparated complete Want Sheets. Such was the popularity and nostalgia surrounding Post’s 1962 promotion that complete uncut sheets in near mint condition can fetch hundreds or even thousands today when they surface at auction.
While helping drive cereal sales, Post’s cardboard sheet format created extra work for collectors seeking to preserve the inserts intact. Separating the cards carefully without damaging the edges or corners tested even the most delicate pairs of children’s hands. Some cards would emerge with small creases or bent corners that could potentially downgrade their condition and value over time. This led many collectors, even as kids, to opt to keep the sheets completely uncut as the format Post distributed them. Doing so maintained the historical integrity of the unusual cardboard sheet format even if it prevented the cards from being truly “collected” until later in life.
For operators of the fledgling baseball card industry, Post’s giveaways presented both opportunities and concerns. On one hand, the promotional inserts exposed millions of new potential collectors to the hobby. But some in the growing card industry worried the free cards could cut into sales of their premium rack packs and boxes as collectors acquired the high-demand stars directly from cereal boxes. Either way, both Post and the sports card industry learned a symbiotic relationship could drive interest in their products if executed well. The 1962 Post cereal baseball card sheets helped further cement America’s love for the baseball card collecting craze during the golden age of the sport in the 1960s. Their unique and innovative distribution method made the promotion an unforgettable and historic part of the hobby’s history. While card styles and formats have continually evolved since, the 1962 Post Want Sheets remain a treasured bridge between baseball, marketing, and childhood nostalgia for millions who enjoyed them in cereal boxes over half a century ago.
