The late 19th century and early 20th century was an era when baseball grew into the national pastime in America and the hobby of collecting baseball cards first began. During this time, many companies realized the marketing potential of including small collectible baseball cards inside popular candy and chewing gum products as incentives to purchase.
One of the earliest examples of this promotional strategy was when the American Tobacco Company began inserting illustrated tobacco cards featuring baseball players and other sports topics inside packages of cigarette brands like Allen & Ginter and Old Judge in 1886. It was the inclusion of baseball cards in chewing gum products in the late 1880s that really helped popularize the hobby of card collecting among children and create lifelong baseball fans.
In 1888, the Breisch-Wasem Company of New York City started including small, rectangular illustrated cardboard trading cards picturing baseball players inside packs of their Voga Gum brand. This marked one of the earliest examples of modern sporting cards inserted as promotions inside chewing gum. The Voga Gum cards measured approximately 2 inches by 3 inches and provided photographs and basic stats of popular Major League Baseball stars of the late 1880s.
Between 1888-1890, over 1,100 different Voga Gum cards were printed featuring many of the era’s greatest players like Cap Anson, Pud Galvin, and Amos Rusie. While the cards had no gum on them, they introduced the concept of kids collecting and trading duplicates as they enjoyed their Voga Chewing Gum. The Voga Gum cards are considered the first true “modern” baseball cards inserted as incentives alongside confectionery products during the sport’s early boom in popularity.
In 1891, the Hazeltine Corporation began a similar promotion by including baseball cards with photographs and statistics of famous players inside packs of their Haby Gum brand. Like the Voga cards before them, the Haby Gum cards were meant to be collected and traded by children while also drumming up sales of chewing gum. Over 250 different Haby Gum cards were produced featuring stars like Smiling Mickey Welch, Big Bill Joyce, and Ed Delahanty. Both the Voga and Haby Gum card sets from the late 1880s are now highly coveted by baseball card collectors and museums today.
In 1909, the American Caramel Company began an especially impressive and iconic sports card promotion by inserting illustrated card stock sheets featuring photographs and info on prominent ballplayers inside each pack of their Caramel Kisses rolling paper wrapped caramels. Known as T206 White Border cards due to their distinctive white borders, over 524 different baseball players received card issues alongside other athletes in the massive T206 set released between 1909-1911.
Starting in 1912, the manufacturers of the popular Chiclets gum brand picked up on the growing hobby of baseball card collecting fostered by the earlier Voga, Haby, and T206 promotions. Chiclets Gum began packaging small rectangular baseball cards with colored illustrations of MLB players into each stick. Over the next few decades, Chiclets produced several classic series including the 1914-1915 Strip Cards, 1915 Rabbit’s Foot series, and 1933 Goudey Gum issues. All provided kids with cards to collect and swap as they enjoyed chewing the Chiclets gum.
One of the most iconic sports card insertions in chewing gum ever produced was the 1952 Topps Baseball Card set. Impressed with the success of bow-wrapper baseball cards inserted in bubblegum, the Topps Chewing Gum Company decided to take card promotions to new heights. Using state-of-the-art color lithograph printing techniques, Topps created what is considered the most beautiful and collectible set of baseball cards ever.
Each wax-wrapped pack of Topps Chewing Gum from 1952 contained one random card showing a player photographed in full-color action poses. A total of 524 cards were produced over the course of the year in the ‘52 Topps set. The cards were significantly higher quality than any prior gum promotions and depicted every Major League ballclub. Topps went on to become the dominant force in sports card production and its ‘52 set remains one of the most sought-after issues by collectors even today when pristine examples can sell for over $100,000 apiece.
Future Topps Baseball Card sets of the 1950s like 1953, 1954, 1955 Bowman, and 1956 continued the tradition of including premium quality color cards packed with chewing gum. Topps also began inserting cards featuring other sports like football and basketball to expand the market. Other gum brands like Leaf and Bazooka tried keeping pace but Topps was clearly the sports card leader. By dealing directly with MLB instead of the players’ unions, Topps maintained exclusive rights to insert baseball cards that made collecting their yearly issues a summertime ritual for kids.
The baseball card boom continued into the 1960s with elaborate Topps designs over those decades including 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967, and many others. Promotions like 1965 Topps Super, 1967 Topps Boomerang, and the 1968 Bazooka Joe comic inserts were particularly beloved. Beginning in 1981 Upper Deck and later Score began directly challenging Topps’ sports monopoly by attaining player likeness rights. This ignited sales wars and new innovate insertions like trading card holograms that created a sports card golden age.
While chewing gum insertions have been less common in recent decades as physical card packs became the norm, the tradition lives on in certain niche markets. In 2002, Topps produced a throwback “Bubble Gum” baseball card series invoking its classic roots. And in specialty outlets, brands like Topps, Bubblicious, and Choc have periodically packaged new baseball cards targeting nostalgia. Most importantly, the early experiments pairing baseball cards with confectionery products in the late 19th century firmly planted the seeds that grew the multi-billion dollar international sports memorabilia industry alive and collecting strong today.
The pairing of baseball cards inside gum, candy, and other snacks in the late 1800s and early 1900s was an inspired cross-promotion that helped lift bubble gum and candy sales while fostering a new national hobby. Brands like Voga, Haby, T206, Chiclets, and especially Topps produced some of the most collectible sports cards ever through their gum and candy insertions. While physical formats have changed, the tradition of integrating baseball cards into confectionery lives on in spirit as one of sports collectibles’ founding promotions.
