The history of baseball cards in Southington, Connecticut dates back over 100 years when the hobby first began gaining popularity in the late 19th century. Southington was home to many avid baseball fans and collectors over the decades who amassed impressive collections of cards chronicling the stars and teams from that era up through modern times.
Some of the earliest baseball cards produced in the 1880s and 1890s featured stars like Cap Anson, Pud Galvin, and Amos Rusie. These pioneer cards from brands like Goodwin Champions and Old Judge were coveted by young collectors in Southington. It was the introduction of tobacco cards inserted in cigarette packs and chewing tobacco in the 1890s that really helped popularize the hobby.
Brands like Allen & Ginter, Mayo Cut Plug, Sweet Caporal, and others inserted illustrated baseball cards as incentives to purchase their tobacco products. Kids in Southington would eagerly await the arrival of new tobacco products at local general stores so they could try to collect full sets of that year’s players. Stars of that era like Kid Nichols, Jesse Burkett, and Nap Lajoie became early heroes for local collectors through their tobacco cards.
In the early 20th century, the baseball card boom continued with the advent of modern sets directly issued by card companies rather than as incentives. Brands like American Caramel, Cadaco, and Diamond Stars issued regional and national sets that could be found in dime stores, candy shops, and mom & pop stores all over Southington. Kids would pool their allowance money and make trips to town to try and find the cards they needed to complete their sets.
Expos and card shows also became popular in Southington during the 1920s-40s, where collectors could meet with dealers to trade, buy, and sell cards. The golden age of baseball in the post-World War II era also corresponded with the golden age of baseball cards as production exploded. Topps dominated the market from the 1950s onward with their modern glossy photo cards of legends like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron.
Collectors in Southington amassed treasures from this post-war era that included complete sets, stars rookies, and oddball issues. The rise of superstar athletes in the 1960s coincided with more innovative card designs from Topps and new competitors like Fleer. Color photography was introduced, cards had fun new oddball subsets, and short printed parallels became collector holy grails. Expos and local card shops also boomed in Southington to meet collector demand.
In the 1970s, the speculator boom took off as investors looked to cards like the iconic 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle as a commodity investment rather than childhood hobby. Southington was not immune, as local collectors and investors drove up prices on vintage stars. The 1980s saw more innovation like oddball issues, traded sets, and licensed non-sports products that expanded the hobby. But the 1990s collector crash cooled speculation as the industry contracted.
However, Southington collectors preserved through the ups and downs, passing on the hobby to new generations. In the 2000s-2010s, the vintage and investment aspect rebounded strongly. Local card shops also adapted to selling supplies, boxes, and providing a meeting place for the local card community. Today’s modern Southington collectors enjoy not just building sets, but also exploring the vintage stars and oddballs from the town’s rich baseball card history over the past 100-plus years. Major stars, oddballs, and complete vintage sets remain the Holy Grails that any Southington collector would love to uncover in their own collections or at a local card show.
The history of baseball cards in Southington serves as a microcosm of the growth and evolution of the hobby nationwide over the past century plus. Through booms and busts, the town’s collectors preserved a rich tradition and provided a supportive local community for card aficionados of all ages. Southington’s card collectors look forward to passing the hobby on to new generations in the decades to come.
