Jewish Baseball Cards: A Unique Chronicle of Early Jewish Athletes in America

Baseball cards have long been iconic collectibles that help tell the story of America’s pastime. One niche category of cards offers a special window into the history of Jewish participation in baseball – Jewish baseball cards. While relatively obscure compared to mainstream sets from Topps, Bowman and others, Jewish baseball cards served to document and celebrate the accomplishments of Jewish major leaguers starting in the early 20th century.

The first known Jewish baseball cards were issued in the late 1910s and 1920s by Brooklyn-based photographer Moses Koenigsberg. Koenigsberg captured images of stars like Hank Greenberg, Lipman Pike and Gabe Paul and had the photos printed on cards. It was not until the 1930s that the first large sets exclusively featuring Jewish ballplayers were released.

In 1937, New York candymaker Hyman Lazar issued a 50-card set as inserts in packages of his Piko brand candy. Images were taken from newspaper clippings and baseball guides to feature stars of the day like Phil Weintraub and Bud Latz along with lesser known Jewish minor leaguers. This minor league focus showed how Jewish baseball cards sought to chronicle the entire Jewish baseball experience rather than just the biggest stars.

Another pioneering Jewish baseball card set from the late 1930s came courtesy of Brooklyn businessman Ben Epstein. Epstein published 100 card sets highlighting top Jewish players from the major and minor leagues. Like the Piko cards, Epstein’s sets helped bring wider recognition to Jewish athletes not just in the majors but throughout the sport. Both the Piko and Epstein sets from this era are now highly collectible amongst Jewish sports memorabilia aficionados.

At this point in the 1930s, most Jewish ballplayers were still in the minor leagues or lower levels as anti-Semitism limited opportunities for Jews in Major League Baseball. Stars like Hank Greenberg were beginning to break barriers and a new generation of Jewish cards started to emerge focused more on telling the stories of these barrier-breaking athletes.

In 1943, Chicago candymaker Max Shneier issued a 100 card set featuring Greenberg, Phil Rizzuto and others. Meanwhile, sets from New York confectioner Joe Sugarman in the late 1940s used a magazine format to provide biographical information on Jewish major leaguers like Al Rosen, Sandy Koufax and current stars like Mickey Mantle who happened to have Jewish heritage. Such sets helped Jewish youth see examples of other Jewish athletes achieving success in America’s game despite facing discrimination.

The 1950s saw Jewish baseball card publishing hit new heights as the post-war boom and civil rights progress led to greater Jewish inclusion and fandom of MLB. Harry Eisenberg’s “Jewish Baseball Stars” set from 1951-1953 numbered over 200 cards and included the first images of soon-to-be superstars like Koufax. Meanwhile, New Jersey businessman Nat Tannen released one of the most acclaimed and collectible Jewish baseball card sets starting in 1954.

Tannen’s long-running series spanned over 20 years of annual releases. His cards featured top-quality color photography and biographical information on Jewish players in the majors and minors. Tannen notably was one of the first to recognize and chronicle the career of Hank Aaron, who had a Jewish father. His beautifully designed cards help document Jewish baseball history and remain some of the most popular items in the hobby today, especially among Jewish sports memorabilia collectors.

By the 1960s and 1970s, with stars like Koufax, Ron Blomberg and Ari Goldstein thriving in the majors, Jewish baseball card publishing entered a boom. Companies like Stadium Club, Philadelphia Gum, Jefferson Smurfit and Joel Productions all released smaller sets for national distribution highlighting Jewish MLB standouts. Ira Kraines also issued regional New York-focused sets through the 1970s. These later issues had wider availability but lacked the historic heft and craftsmanship of earlier pioneering Jewish baseball card publishers.

Overall, Jewish baseball cards serve as a unique historical records chronicling Jewish involvement and success in America’s pastime from the early exclusion and discrimination faced, to the record-breaking stars that helped shatter barriers. While relatively small print runs and specialized distribution means many early Jewish baseball card sets are now rare, they still resonate as treasures that tells the story of Jewish athletes overcoming prejudice to achieve stardom in professional baseball. For Jewish baseball and sports fans, these uniquely themed cards are cherished memorabilia linking to pride in Jewish heritage and athletes’ pioneering role in spreading inclusion within America’s game.