The early history of baseball cards dates back to the late 1800s when cigarette companies began including small promotional cards featuring baseball players in their packs and boxes. These original baseball cards were printed in black and white due to limitations in printing technology at the time. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, black and white baseball cards reigned supreme as collectors amassed vast collections featuring their favorite players and biggest stars.
One of the earliest and most iconic sets of black and white baseball cards was produced in 1886-1887 by the American Tobacco Company. Known as the Old Judge and Gypsy Queen sets, these early cards featured individual players on small 1 1/4″ by 2″ cards with basic stats and biographical information. Players featured included notable stars of the day such as King Kelly, Buck Ewing, and Dan Brouthers. Production of these early tobacco era cards helped spark the beginning of baseball card collecting as a hobby.
In the early 1900s, several other tobacco companies jumped into the baseball card business by including them in cigarette and chewing tobacco packs. Prominent among these were sets produced by companies such as Piedmont, Sweet Caporal, Hassan Club, and Chest Protectors. These cards continued the tradition of small black and white player portraits and basic stats on the front with advertising on the back. Sets from this era featured the games biggest stars and helped drive further interest in collecting among young fans.
The most famous and iconic set of early 20th century black and white baseball cards was produced from 1909-1911 by the American Tobacco Company and known as the T206 set. These larger 2 1/2″ by 3″ cards featured vivid player portraits and more extensive biographical information. The sheer number of cards produced over the multi-year run and star power of included players like Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson made the T206 set enormously popular and valuable decades later. The T206 is considered the high water mark of the tobacco era of baseball cards.
In the teens and 1920s, other tobacco brands like Murad, Hassan, and Karakah produced popular sets of black and white baseball cards. Production declined in the late 1920s as the tobacco companies began facing government pressure over targeting children with their baseball card promotions. The Great Depression of the 1930s further slowed production of new baseball card sets. During this time, collectors had to rely mostly on their existing collections of older black and white tobacco cards to fuel their hobby.
The black and white era of baseball cards saw a brief revival in 1933 with Goudey Gum Company’s famous release known as Goudey Baseball Cards. Featuring bright, vivid portraits on thicker card stock, the Goudey set rekindled collector interest. The hobby remained primarily focused on trading and collecting older tobacco era cards in the following years. Production of new baseball cards remained slow until the post-World War 2 era when the advent of color printing brought about the end of the black and white baseball card era.
While black and white cards are no longer produced, the early tobacco and gum company sets from the late 1800s through 1930s remain hugely popular with collectors today. The historical significance and visual appeal of the player portraits, combined with the scarcity of high grade specimens, make vintage black and white cards hugely valuable. Sets like T206, Goudey, and the early tobacco issues are tremendously historic as the foundation of the modern baseball card collecting hobby. Even with the advent of color cards, the classic black and white baseball cards of the early trading card era retain a nostalgic appeal that will ensure their collectability for generations to come.
