Baseball cards are some of the most iconic collectibles from decades past. In the small town of Burlington, Iowa sits one of the largest collections of vintage baseball cards in the country. The origins of this massive trove date back to the early 1960s and a young boy named Tommy Johnson who grew up with a passion for the game.
Tommy was born in 1952 in Burlington and from a very young age loved everything about baseball. In the late 1950s and early 60s, packs of baseball cards could frequently be found in grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience markets. Tommy would save up his allowance and spend it on packs of Topps, Leaf, or Bowman baseball cards, hoping to land his favorite players. He began carefully storing and organizing his growing collection in alphabetized binders.
Throughout his youth, baseball was Tommy’s number one hobby and pastime. He would spend hours poring over his cards, learning stats and biographies of the greats. He attended every home game he could for the local semi-pro Burlington Bees team. While other kids his age were moving on to interests like cars, music, and girls, Tommy’s passion for the national pastime only grew stronger.
He continued diligently adding to his collection through his teen years in the 1960s. As the decades rolled on, Tommy’s love of baseball never wavered even as fads and trends came and went. He held onto his childhood cards with the intent to one day pass them down to his own children. Unfortunately, Tommy never married nor had kids of his own. Baseball remained his one true joy and hobby into adulthood.
By the 1990s, the vintage sports card market was booming. Retro memorabilia from the 1960s was becoming highly sought after by a new generation of collectors. Tommy’s brothers encouraged him to start sorting and cataloging his massive collection to properly assess its value. What they discovered shocked even the most knowledgeable vintage card authorities: Tommy’s lifetime accumulation numbered in the hundreds of thousands and spanned from the 1950s all the way up to the modern era.
It was undoubtedly one of the largest single-owner baseball card collections ever amassed. Ranging from common playings cards to rare vintage gems, the entire lot was valued at well over $10 million. With no heirs of his own, Tommy made the decision to keep his beloved collection intact and donate the entirety of it to his hometown. In 1997, he partnered with the Burlington Public Library to establish the Hawkeye Baseball Card Archives – a permanent collection housed in a climate controlled display room at the library.
Open free to the public, the Hawkeye Collection became an instant tourist attraction and source of civic pride. Local sports memorabilia companies helped the library further catalogue and preserve the archive. Experts were brought in to appraise particularly rare finds like mint condition rookie cards of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron. Special showcases were curated highlighting the evolution of card designs decade by decade.
Today, over 25 years since its inception, the Hawkeye Baseball Card Archives remain one of the top sports history attractions in Iowa. Children and adults alike flock to pore over Tommy Johnson’s lifelong dedication. Often called “the Smithsonian of baseball cards,” it serves as a true time capsule bringing the rich history of America’s favorite pastime to life. Researchers and journalists continue utilizing the collection for both recreational and academic study.
While Tommy passed away in 2007 at the age of 55, his passion lives on through this one-of-a-kind public collection. It is a remarkable legacy left by a small town boy who never outgrew his childhood love of the game. For baseball and sports memorabilia fans across the country, a trip to Burlington provides a unique opportunity to step back in time and experience the hobby through decades of meticulously curated cards. The Hawkeye Baseball Card Archives is a shining example of one man’s lifelong fandom immortalized for the enjoyment and education of generations to come.
