Baseball cards have been an integral part of American culture and childhood for over a century. While the baseball card industry was dominated by the large companies like Topps and Fleer for many decades, smaller regional companies also played an important role in the history of these collectibles. One such company was located right in Erie, Pennsylvania – the Erie Baseball Card Company.
Founded in the late 1940s, the Erie Baseball Card Company was one of the earliest and longest-running regional baseball card manufacturers. Baseball was incredibly popular in Erie during this time period, with the local minor league team, the Erie Sailors, drawing big crowds to Ainsworth Field. Two brothers, Joseph and Frank Marino, saw an opportunity to capitalize on this local baseball fervor by producing affordable baseball cards featuring the Erie Sailors players.
The Marino brothers operated their baseball card company out of a small print shop located on French Street in downtown Erie. With limited resources and equipment compared to the larger national companies, they focused on producing basic but high quality cardboard baseball cards featuring individual Erie Sailors players from the late 1940s through the 1950s. Each card contained a black and white photo of a Sailors player on the front, along with their name, position, batting stats, and other information printed on the back.
While the Erie Baseball Card Company never produced sets with gum included like Topps, their cards only cost a penny per pack making them very affordable for local young baseball fans. Erie-area drug stores, candy shops, and Five & Dime stores stocked packs of the Marino brothers’ baseball cards, helping to spread the popularity of collecting in the region. Having affordable local cards featuring their hometown minor league heroes made the Erie Sailors players really come to life for young collectors.
In addition to producing basic player cards of the Erie Sailors, the Marino brothers also created promotional cards to help market the minor league team. Specialty cards were made to advertise opening day, giveaway nights, and other Sailors promotions. Having these promotional baseball cards distributed around town helped drum up excitement for upcoming Erie Sailors games. The local minor league franchise appreciated the Erie Baseball Card Company bringing more publicity and awareness to their ballclub.
While focused primarily on the Erie Sailors, the Marino brothers also produced limited run cards featuring players from other nearby minor league teams like the Wilkes-Barre Barons, Williamsport Grays, and Scranton Miners. Distribution of these sets was mostly confined to their local Erie area, but it helped expand the scope of the company slightly. In the early 1950s, they even created sets spotlighting major leaguers like the New York Yankees in hopes of attracting new collectors.
The rise of the larger national baseball card manufacturers like Topps proved challenging for smaller regional producers. After nearly a decade of operations, the Erie Baseball Card Company ceased production in the mid-1950s as Topps and others began to dominate distribution channels. While short-lived, the Marino brothers’ company helped spread the hobby of baseball card collecting locally during the early postwar minor league boom years in Erie. Their cards featuring the Erie Sailors players remain highly sought after by collectors with a connection to the city and region.
Periodically, groupings of unopened Erie Baseball Card Company packs from the late 1940s and 50s have resurfaced in Erie-area attics, basements, and antique stores. Finding a sealed wax pack of these nearly 70 year old local cards is a real thrill for any collector, especially those with Erie roots. While production was small scale, the Erie Baseball Card Company played an important role in the history of baseball cards in northwestern Pennsylvania. They helped ignite the passions of many young Erie-area baseball fans during the city’s minor league heyday in the 1940s and 50s. Though short-lived, the legacy of this pioneering regional baseball card manufacturer lives on through the cards they produced decades ago.
