The history of baseball cards in Brooklyn is deeply intertwined with the story of two iconic franchises – the Brooklyn Dodgers and Brooklyn Robins. From the early 1930s until the Dodgers’ departure for Los Angeles after the 1957 season, Brooklyn was a hotbed for the production and collection of baseball cards featuring the hometown Dodgers and their predecessors the Robins.
Some of the earliest baseball cards featuring Brooklyn players date back to the late 1800s when cigarette companies like Allen & Ginter and Old Judge began inserting cards in their packs. It wasn’t until the 1930s that baseball cards really took off in popularity in Brooklyn thanks to the affordable penny packs produced by Goudey and Play Ball. These early 1930s Goudey cards featured many future Hall of Famers who got their start in Brooklyn including Burleigh Grimes, Dazzy Vance, and Zach Wheat.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Brooklyn kids could find baseball cards in many corner stores, candy shops, and mom & pop grocery stores throughout the borough. Popular brands included Goudey, Play Ball, Diamond Stars, and Leaf. Some of the most iconic and valuable Brooklyn Dodger cards were produced during this period, including the famous 1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig and the ultra-rare 1939 Play Ball Marius Russo. Brooklyn natives growing up during this time have fond memories of trading and collecting cards featuring their hometown heroes like Pete Reiser, Pee Wee Reese, Leo Durocher, and Dixie Walker.
The 1950s are arguably the golden age of Brooklyn Dodgers cards when it comes to design, production value, and player selection. Iconic sets from Bowman, Topps, and Red Heart featured young stars like Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, and Duke Snider on colorful illustrated cards. The success and popularity of the “Boys of Summer” Dodgers teams of this era translated directly to strong sales of baseball cards in shops all over Brooklyn. According to collectors who were kids during this time, it was very common for entire neighborhoods of boys to gather for baseball card swaps and trades under the elms of Prospect Park on sunny summer afternoons.
1955 and 1956 Topps cards are particularly beloved by Brooklyn collectors for capturing snapshot moments from the Dodgers’ glory years. Many consider the 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson card, showing the first black man in the major leagues stealing second base, to be the most iconic baseball card of all time. While the Dodgers’ departure to Los Angeles after 1957 was a crushing blow, their legacy lives on through the baseball cards that Brooklyn kids amassed in shoeboxes and dresser drawers during the team’s three decades in the borough.
In the 1960s after the Dodgers left, baseball card collecting in Brooklyn went through a transition period. Younger kids focused on the newly established New York Mets and cross-borough rival New York Yankees, while older collectors held onto memories of the Dodgers through card shows, sales, and swaps. The 1970s saw a resurgence in interest in vintage Dodgers cards as the nostalgia cycle kicked in. Popular sets from Topps, Kellogg’s, and Fleer featured Brooklyn stars in throwback uniforms on oddball parallel issue cards.
Brooklyn’s baseball card scene was reinvigorated in the 1980s and 1990s thanks to the growth of the hobby and card conventions. Local shops like Brooklyn Card Shop and Card World catered to collectors looking to complete vintage Dodgers and Robins sets. Original Goudey, Play Ball, and Bowman cards fetched high prices. Brooklyn natives who grew up in the 1950s like Bill Mastro and Joe Orlando became prominent autograph dealers and memorabilia experts. The National Sports Collectors Convention, held annually in the borough starting in 1991, brought collectors from around the world to Brooklyn.
Today, Brooklyn remains an epicenter for baseball card collecting and nostalgia. Vintage shops in Williamsburg and Borough Park sell Dodgers cards and memorabilia to new generations of fans. Social media groups connect local collectors, and the Brooklyn Public Library has digitized newspapers and photos from the Dodgers era. While the team itself left long ago, the legacy of Jackie, Pee Wee, Duke, and The Boys of Summer lives on in the cardboard treasures hidden in basements, attics, and memory boxes across the borough – a reminder of summers long past spent trading, collecting, and rooting for the home team under the Elms of Ebbets Field. The rich history of baseball cards inextricably links Brooklyn to its beloved Bums and makes the hobby a meaningful way for current residents to connect to the borough’s storied baseball past.
