The humble baseball card has always held a special place in American culture and nostalgia. For many small towns across the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, baseball cards provided entertainment and connection to the national pastime for young fans. Fond du Lac, Wisconsin was no exception.
Some of the earliest documented baseball cards to circulate in Fond du Lac date back to the late 1880s, coinciding with the rise of organized professional baseball leagues. Cracker Jack began including baseball cards in their product in 1912, greatly increasing availability and interest among children. Local shops like Johnson’s Candy Store sold boxes of Cracker Jack and would often trade or sell extra cards to kids. This helped foster the early baseball card collecting scene in Fond du Lac.
The golden age of baseball cards is widely considered to be from the late 1930s through the early 1960s. During this time, tobacco brands like Topps, Bowman, and Fleer produced and distributed millions of cards annually featuring current major and minor league players. Fond du Lac’s youth were certainly swept up in the card collecting craze along with the rest of the nation. Many lifelong Fond du Lac residents today fondly recall trading and organizing their cards on neighborhood streets and at local parks during this era.
In the post-World War II economic boom, Fond du Lac saw steady growth and an emerging middle class. More families had extra income to spend on leisure activities like trading cards. Local shops like Johnson’s were still big hubs, but national brands like Topps also began selling wax packs directly to consumers at drug stores, grocery stores, and five-and-dime shops around town. Popular players on the hometown Milwaukee Braves brought local interest in cards to new heights as well.
By the late 1950s, the hobby had evolved past just collecting for entertainment value. Knowledgeable collectors in Fond du Lac were pursuing rare and valuable vintage cards to invest in the growing market. Teenagers and young adults would scour attics, antique stores, and flea markets across the region searching for treasures from the early 20th century to add to their collections. One famous local “card show” held in a VFW hall in 1960 attracted collectors from as far as Green Bay and Appleton.
The 1960s saw new card sets produced in color for the first time, further fueling the frenzy. The market began to cool by the late 1960s as interests shifted to other hobbies and pastimes among the post-war baby boom generation. Local shops scaled back card inventory and the heyday of the neighborhood trading session faded. Still, a dedicated core of collectors in Fond du Lac kept the hobby alive.
In the 1970s and 80s, the baseball card market entered a dormant period industry-wide. Fewer sets were printed with less fanfare. This created an opportunity for savvy collectors in Fond du Lac. With fewer people actively collecting, rare vintage cards could be obtained very reasonably from attics and second-hand shops if you knew what to look for. Some local collectors amassed truly impressive vintage collections during this time that would later greatly increase in value.
A resurgence occurred in the late 1980s fueled by nostalgia for childhood summers and increasing rarity/value of vintage cards. New collectors joined longtime Fond du Lac hobbyists, and the trading scene found new life at card shows that sprouted up locally. In the early 1990s, speculation ran wild as media attention drove demand and prices to unsustainable levels. The market crashed but collecting in Fond du Lac persisted.
Today, baseball cards remain a popular nostalgic hobby as well as an alternative investment appreciated by a passionate cross-section of Fond du Lac’s population. Local card shops like The Dugout still thrive selling new releases while also providing a place for enthusiasts to trade, buy, and sell from their collections. Vintage local card shows continue to connect collectors, and online communities allow Fond du Lac collectors to trade and buy worldwide. The simple joys and community of baseball cards have endured for over a century in Fond du Lac.
