Baseball cards first emerged in Europe in the late 19th century as the sport began to gain popularity outside of North America. While baseball was slow to catch on compared to sports like soccer and cricket, dedicated fans in certain countries began collecting cards featuring their favorite American players and teams.
Some of the earliest European baseball cards were produced in England in the 1880s by manufacturer Allen & Ginter. These included images of stars from the National League and American Association like Cap Anson, Pud Galvin, and Buck Ewing. Production was limited, making these Victorian-era cards highly sought after by collectors today. Allen & Ginter also exported some of its baseball productions to other parts of Europe.
In the early 20th century, as baseball’s professional leagues in America continued expanding and attracting more international attention, card companies began targeting the European market more intentionally. Britain, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands saw some of the first localized baseball card productions on the continent from firms like British W.D. & H.O. Wills and German Zig-Zag.
These early European baseball cards generally featured the same players as their American counterparts but sometimes with translated text or regionally themed non-sports images on the reverse. Distribution was still quite limited, available mostly in large city hobby shops and tobacco stores that stocked American cigarette brands. But they helped foster growing interest in the game and its stars abroad.
After World War I, the baseball card hobby expanded further in Europe thanks to increased transatlantic travel and sport exchanges between the U.S. and Allied countries. Firms like Britain’s Carreras and Netherlands’ Van Happen began inserting baseball cards into cigarette and candy packs for mass distribution, similar to the early American model. This helped more Europeans experience and collect cards of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and other Flapper Era icons.
In the 1920s and 1930s, as radio and newsreels also helped spread baseball mania internationally, specialized card companies emerged catering entirely to the European market. U.K. based Courtney Kelly issued sets exclusively featuring teams and players from the American League and National League. In Germany, Bilder-Sammel-Karten made baseball a prominent part of their multi-sport offerings.
The golden age of American baseball in the 1940s-60s coincided with the post-World War II economic boom that saw the hobby reach new heights on both sides of the Atlantic. Iconic sets from Topps, Bowman and others were readily available in Europe through the military, cultural exchanges, and a growing collector base. Local producers also thrived, such as Italy’s Dresanda and France’s Carta Sport.
In subsequent decades, European collectors embraced the stylistic evolution of American cards. The transition to modern cardboard in the 1950s, the photorealism of the 1960s, and garish designs of the 1970s all found devoted followings. Local manufacturers continued catering to European tastes through the 1980s, inserting regional players and bilingual text. The expansion of English card shops and specialty stores only grew the scene.
Today, baseball cards remain a vibrant part of European sports and collectibles culture. While the sport itself has declined in popularity outside North America compared to its early 20th century peak, dedicated leagues and clubs still thrive in several countries. Card shows, conventions, auctions and online communities allow European collectors to share in the rich history and art of the American hobby, which first took root on the continent over 135 years ago. The legacy of those pioneering Victorian-era cards lives on.
