The history of baseball cards in Vermont dates back over 150 years to the late 1860s when the first baseball cards began appearing as promotional materials for tobacco companies and other brands. While the baseball card collecting craze didn’t truly take off until the late 1880s and early 1890s, some of the earliest examples of baseball related memorabilia and collectibles originated from companies based in Vermont.
One of the first known examples of a baseball related trading card came from the Allen & Ginter tobacco company, which was located in Richmond, Virginia but distributed its products throughout New England including Vermont. In 1886 and 1887, Allen & Ginter released sets of tobacco cards featuring photos of famous baseball players on the front with advertisements on the back. Examples of early stars featured included Cap Anson, Jim O’Rourke, and Dan Brouthers. While these sets predated the more famous “T206” tobacco era of the early 1900s, they helped plant the seeds for baseball card mania that would soon follow.
Speaking of the iconic “T206” tobacco era of the early 20th century, Vermont actually had a small role to play. The American Tobacco Company, which issued the ultra-popular and valuable T206 set from 1909-1911, had several subsidiary cigarette brands that were quite popular in Vermont including Fatima and Sweet Caporal. While these brands did not specifically feature baseball players on their cards, they undoubtedly contributed to the rising interest in collecting that helped fuel the baseball card craze during its golden age.
In the late 19th/early 20th century, Vermont was also home to several regional tobacco brands that experimented with baseball cards as promotional incentives. One such company was the M.J. Brennan Cigar Company located in St. Albans. In 1887, Brennan issued a set of 25 promotional cards featuring baseball players from major league teams of the time such as the Boston Beaneaters and New York Giants. While crudely produced compared to later issues, the Brennan cards helped spread baseball card mania to local Vermont collectors and players.
During World War I and the 1920s, the production of baseball cards slowed significantly as the tobacco industry tightened promotional budgets. The popularity of the hobby remained strong, especially in baseball crazy New England. Small local shops in Vermont towns like Burlington and Montpelier sold loose packs of older tobacco era cards to collectors. Magazines like “Tip Top Weekly” also featured baseball content and occasional cards in their issues found on Vermont newsstands and in drug stores.
The Great Depression of the 1930s brought another lull to the baseball card industry as disposable income dried up. But Vermont remained a hotbed of baseball fandom and many families in the state supplemented their diets by growing their own tobacco for cigarettes and occasional trading cards. Kids would swap and trade whatever scraps of cards they had accumulated, keeping the hobby alive during some of its leanest years.
The next major boom for baseball cards in Vermont came in the post-World War II era as the American economy rebounded stronger than ever. In 1948, the Bowman Gum Company issued the first modern style design of cards that could be found in wax wrapped packs alongside sticks of gum. Bowman’s sets in the late 1940s and 1950s featured the up and coming stars that Vermont kids grew up idolizing like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Sandy Koufax. The cards were a huge success everywhere, including the Green Mountain state.
During the 1950s, Vermont was also a hotbed for the early card shows and conventions that helped grow the hobby into a mainstream American pastime. Some of the earliest documented card shows were held in Burlington and Montpelier, drawing collectors from around northern New England. Local drugstores and five-and-dime stores continued stocking the newest Bowman, Topps and Fleer releases that Vermont kids eagerly awaited and traded at school.
The 1960s saw the rise of the first serious vintage baseball card collectors, including many in Vermont who amassed large collections of 19th century tobacco era stars. Magazines like “Sport Magazine” and the “Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide” were regularly purchased by Vermont collectors looking to value their collections. In the late 1960s, the Vermont city of Rutland hosted one of the earliest major card shows and conventions on record, drawing over 1,000 attendees.
By the 1970s, baseball cards had truly become a mainstream hobby enjoyed by kids and adults alike all across Vermont. The rise of specialized card shops in the 1970s brought a new level of expertise to the state. Stores like Burlington Card World and Magic Mountain Cards in Rutland helped fuel the boom years of the 1970s led by the massively popular Topps and Kellogg’s 3D baseball sets that could be found on shelves everywhere in the Green Mountain state.
In the 1980s, Vermont was swept up in the junk wax era excess along with the rest of the country. Kids traded garages full of commons from the era’s plentiful but largely worthless sets. The boom also introduced new generations to the hobby. Card shops stayed busy and card shows packed convention centers across Vermont. Icons of the era like Donruss, Fleer and Score kept local collectors happy.
The modern era of the 1990s-present has seen Vermont’s role in the hobby evolve. While local card shops have struggled against online competition, dedicated “brick and mortar” shops like Burlington Card World have endured. Vermont also became home to some of the Northeast’s top vintage and high-end card auction houses like Grey Flannel Auctions. Major card shows still occur annually in Burlington and Rutland. And today’s collectors have access to an amazing array of vintage and modern product hailing from Vermont’s long and storied baseball card past.
While a small state, Vermont has played an important role in the history and growth of the baseball card collecting hobby spanning over 150 years. From some of the earliest known examples to modern mega conventions and auction houses, the Green Mountain state helped fuel various baseball card booms and introduced generations to the joy of the pastime. The roots of card collecting run deep in Vermont.
