Avery Baseball Cards: A Brief History of America’s Favorite Pastime on Cardboard
For over a century, Avery baseball cards have captured the history of America’s favorite pastime on small pieces of cardboard. From the early 1900s to today, Avery has chronicled the greatest players, teams, and moments in baseball through their iconic baseball card sets. While other companies like Topps and Bowman have certainly left their mark on the hobby as well, no brand is more synonymous with the tradition of baseball cards than Avery.
The Avery brand was founded in the late 19th century as a manufacturer of paper products like postcards, file folders, and more. It was in the early 1900s that they began experimenting with a new product – trading cards featuring images of professional baseball players. In 1909, Avery released their first set of baseball cards as a promotional item to be inserted in packs of gum or tobacco. Known as the T206 set, it featured stars of the day like Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson. The cards were a huge hit with kids and collectors alike, kicking off the golden age of baseball cards that would last through the 1950s.
Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Avery was the undisputed king of the baseball card industry. Each year they would release massive sets featuring over 500 cards each, documenting every player in the major and minor leagues. Some of their most iconic sets from this period include the E90 series from 1913-1914, the T205 White Border set from 1910, and the hugely popular T206 set. These early 20th century Avery cards would later become some of the most valuable and coveted in the entire hobby. Private collectors and museums alike prize examples from this golden era.
The 1930s saw Avery shift to smaller sets more focused on just the major league players and stars. Sets like 1931 Goudey and 1933 Goudey had beautiful color images and remained popular with collectors for decades. Competition was rising from other brands like Play Ball and Leaf which cut into Avery’s market share some. Still, they remained the most famous brand in baseball cards.
After a decade of dominance, Avery’s run at the top began to fade some in the post-World War 2 1940s and 1950s. New competitors like Topps had emerged and begun securing exclusive licensing deals with the major leagues, limiting Avery’s access to new photography and information. Their sets became smaller and more basic during this period. They still turned out beloved issues like their 1952 and 1957 sets which featured the likes of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron in their early prime years.
The 1960s saw Avery make their last true gasp at remaining relevant in the baseball card world. Under their new “Sports Collector” branding, they released sets in 1961, 1962, and 1965 that highlighted the biggest stars and best photography of the era like Willie McCovey, Bob Gibson, and Sandy Koufax. However, Topps had cemented themselves as the undisputed #1 brand by this point. Avery’s distribution and marketing could no longer compete. After their 1965 issue, they ceased regular baseball card production for many decades.
While Avery faded from the baseball card scene in the 1960s, their rich history and iconic early 20th century issues remained highly prized by collectors. Prices for their vintage T206 Honus Wagner, Mickey Mantle, and Babe Ruth cards skyrocketed. In the late 1980s, there was a renewed interest in vintage cards that sparked a full-fledged collecting craze. Avery capitalized on this and re-entered the market with reprint sets of their most coveted early 20th century issues like T206, Goudey, and others. These reprints sold extremely well and helped introduce a new generation to Avery’s classic baseball card heritage.
In the 1990s, Avery released a few original modern sets again like their Diamond Kings and Classic Cubs issues of the late 90s/early 2000s. They never regained the same market share as the glory days. Still, their brand and vintage issues remained hugely popular with collectors. Into the 2000s and 2010s, Avery has focused on high-end reprints, subsets within other company’s releases, and special anniversary issues to commemorate their history. In recent years, they’ve also re-released some of their most iconic vintage sets as higher-end modern reproductions with updated player information.
Today, over 100 years after those first T206 cards hit the market, Avery remains one of the most storied brands in the entire sports card industry. While they no longer dominate production like they did for baseball’s early decades, their legacy lives on in the hearts of collectors and in the record prices their vintage issues continue to command at auction. For both casual fans and intense collectors, the Avery name instantly conjures nostalgia for baseball’s earliest decades and the colorful cardboard portraits that helped build the hobby into what it is today. Few brands can claim to have left as indelible a mark on sports cards as the iconic Avery.
