In 1922, the James L. Kraft Food Company first introduced processed cheese packaged in waxed paper wrappers. Looking for new ways to market their product, the company’s marketing team came up with the novel idea of including baseball cards in some packages of Kraft cheese as a promotional item. At the time, baseball cards were growing in popularity among children and adults alike as souvenirs from cigarette packs and bubble gum. Kraft saw inserting baseball cards directly into their cheese as a way to appeal to new younger consumers.
The first Kraft cheese baseball cards appeared in packs during the 1923 baseball season. Each wax-wrapped slice of Kraft cheese now contained a single baseball card featuring photos of players from the American and National Leagues. The cards spotlighted the biggest stars of the day like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Rogers Hornsby. The idea was an immediate success, with kids eagerly searching through cheese packs for rare cards of their favorite ballplayers. The promotional campaign led to a huge boost in Kraft cheese sales that year.
Encouraged by the positive response, Kraft commissioned several series of baseball cards over subsequent seasons. Each yearly series featured new photos, statistics, and biographies of that year’s top talents. In the mid-1920s, the cards grew in size to around 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches, similar to modern day trading cards. To add further appeal for young collectors, Kraft occasionally inserted rare “golden ticket”-style cards that could be redeemed for prizes. Some examples included season tickets to local MLB games or autographed baseball bats from prominent stars.
As the baseball card collecting craze intensified, Kraft stepped up their game. The company launched increasingly elaborate annual sets in the late 1920s and early 1930s that resembled specialized tobacco card releases of the era. Multicolored backs provided deeper statistical details and career records. Attractive graphical designs adorned the fronts. Production quality greatly improved from early crude photo reproductions. In 1933, Kraft unleashed their most ambitious 107-card series ever spanning both current players and retired legends. Its depth and high production standards approached the excellence of the T206 and E90 tobacco issues.
Meanwhile, Kraft expanded distribution of its cheese cards nationwide across North America. The inserts appeared not just in American cheese but companion Canadian, Mexican, and Latin American regional varieties as well. Sales of Kraft products hit record highs during the Great Depression thanks largely to the promotional baseball cards motivating purchases. With the rising fortunes of organized baseball further reinforcing its mainstream popularity, Kraft capitalized by including cards featuring players from the Negro Leagues in the mid-1930s, a rarity at the time.
However, World War 2 disrupted domestic cheese card production. Wartime restrictions on paper, ink, and other commodities forced Kraft to temporarily halt issuing baseball inserts. They instead created small patriotic trading cards between 1942-1945 celebrating contributions on the home front. But as the postwar economic boom commenced, Kraft resumed full cheese card series in 1946 depicting returning Major Leaguers and newcomers. Color photos now adorned many cards, a technical achievement which further boosted their collectability.
In the 1950s, Kraft faced new challenges from competitors enacting their own sports card promotions. To stand out, the company began expanding beyond baseball by including footballers, boxers, and other athletes. But by the late 1950s, as the post-war bubble economy yielded to new social realities, Kraft discontinued the promotions. Rising costs, consumer tastes shifting to new fads, and lawsuits over included gambling information targeting children were factors. The final Kraft cheese card series occurred in 1958. By then, the inserts had captivated generations of fans and did much to spread nationwide enthusiasm for baseball collecting as a mainstream hobby. Today, vintage Kraft cheese cards remain among the most coveted and valuable in the worldwide collecting community due to their historical significance and rarity from the formative years when baseball cards first exploded in popularity across America and beyond. As the original baseball card insert pioneers, Kraft left an indelible mark on both the culture of collecting and marketing of America’s favorite packaged snack.
