The small city of Santee, California, located just east of San Diego, has a rich history with baseball cards that dates back to the early 20th century. Some of the earliest baseball card collectors and traders called the Santee area home, helping to fuel the growing hobby in Southern California during the sport’s rise in popularity.
One of the first known baseball card collectors from Santee was George Barnes, who began amassing cards as a young boy in the 1910s and 1920s. George’s father owned a general store in Old Town Santee where the family lived above the business. Young George would trade and purchase cards from other kids who frequented the store. He accumulated hundreds of cards from that era, including many rare and high-grade examples that he kept stored safely in his bedroom.
In the late 1920s, a group of teenage boys in Santee formed one of the earliest organized baseball card collecting clubs on the West Coast. They called themselves the Santee Swappers and would meet weekly at a local drugstore to swap, trade, discuss players and teams, and engage in friendly wagering using their duplicate cards. Word of the club spread, and soon boys from nearby towns like El Cajon and Lakeside were also regular attendees. The Santee Swappers helped spark interest in cards throughout East County.
During World War II, with many local men overseas fighting, the baseball card hobby provided an escape for those left behind, especially children. Kids in Santee would ride their bicycles to neighborhood stores, hoping to find the newly released packs from that season to add to their collections. Some enterprising young collectors even went door to door, offering to do odd jobs or chores in exchange for unwanted duplicate cards from adults.
In the postwar boom of the 1950s, Santee saw significant residential and commercial growth. New shopping centers and subdivisions popped up across the landscape. Card collecting also hit new heights with the arrival of the modern golden age of baseball cards led by Topps. Stores in Santee had trouble keeping cards on shelves to meet the rising demand. Teen hangouts like the Santee Drive-In were also popular places for large trading sessions on weekend nights.
Two brothers, Jim and Tom Murphy, grew up in Santee during the 1950s-60s and amassed two of the finest vintage baseball card collections ever assembled from those decades. Through tireless trading at stores, schools, and sporting events, the Murphy brothers tracked down almost every high-number and late-year card issue to complete their mammoth sets. Both brothers maintained their collections into adulthood and were pioneering members of early sports collectibles clubs and conventions.
In the 1970s, a new generation of Santee kids growing up in the newly-built Fanita Ranch and Casa de Oro neighborhoods took up the baseball card hobby. Stores like Safeway and Vons became card trading hotspots after school let out each day. Kids would ride their bikes for miles to make trades, sometimes specializing in certain teams or players. Weekly garage sales also became a prime scouting ground for finding forgotten stacks of dusty cards.
Two brothers, Greg and David Martinez, parlayed their baseball card collecting as kids in the 1970s into a successful sports memorabilia business today based in nearby El Cajon. Starting with a card collection and shop in their parents’ garage, the Martinez brothers have grown Martinez Authentic into one of the nation’s top memorabilia authentication companies through hard work and a passion for the hobby. They still have fond memories of their early days trading outside Vons in Santee.
Into the modern era, Santee remains a hotbed for baseball card collectors and traders. Local card shops like The Player’s Club and Showcase Comics help fuel the hobby with weekly events. Social media groups like “Santee Card Collectors” allow today’s generation to swap virtually. And the annual Santee Street Fair each October features a major card show, celebrating the city’s long tradition of collectors who have kept the hobby thriving for over 100 years. From the early swappers to today’s digital traders, the baseball card legacy lives on in Santee.
