The Fairfield Company was a leading American manufacturer and distributor of baseball cards during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1889 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Fairfield began producing baseball cards as a side business and soon found tremendous success with their affordable and widely distributed sets. At their peak in the early 1900s, Fairfield cards made up the vast majority of baseball cards on the market and helped fuel America’s growing passion for the sport during the Deadball Era.
One of Fairfield’s earliest releases was an 1892 set featuring photos and brief bios of major league players from that season. Printed on thin cardboard stock, the cards sold for a penny apiece and were inserted randomly in packages of chewing gum, tobacco, and candy to boost sales of those products. The unique distribution method was a major innovation that helped baseball cards catch on with both children and adults across the country. Within a few years, Fairfield had deals in place with most major confectioners and tobacco firms to include baseball cards in their products.
As the popularity of collecting the cards grew, Fairfield began issuing new and expanded sets each season from 1893 through the late 1890s. Their 1896 set is among the most famous and coveted of the early years, featuring over 200 cards spanning both the National League and newly formed American League. In addition to photos, the 1896 cards included each player’s team, position, batting average, and career highlights up to that point. The level of statistical detail set a new standard that future card manufacturers would emulate.
At the turn of the 20th century, Fairfield took baseball card production to an unprecedented scale. Their 1900 set ballooned to a then-unheard of 512 cards chronicling both major leagues. Additional sets were issued each subsequent year through the first decade. The company also began experimenting with different card designs, materials, and statistical inclusions based on feedback from collectors. Their attention to the hobby’s growth helped solidify Fairfield as the clear market leader. By 1905, an estimated 90% of all baseball cards being collected and traded among fans were Fairfield products.
Two major events shook up the baseball card industry in the early 1910s. The first was the American Tobacco Company’s decision in 1909 to include baseball cards in their most popular cigarette brands like Sweet Caporal and Fatima. This gave rival card manufacturer American Tobacco a major distribution advantage that threatened Fairfield’s dominance. At the same time, the rise of independent gum and candy companies meant fewer insertion deals for Fairfield’s cards. To compete, Fairfield had to develop new distribution methods.
In 1911, Fairfield began direct-to-consumer sales of their card sets through mail order catalogs, retail shops, and even the Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog. While not as profitable as their insertion model, it kept their products available. More importantly, Fairfield shrewdly negotiated a deal in 1913 to have their cards exclusively included in the massively popular Cracker Jack snack brand. This helped offset losses from other partners and kept Fairfield at the forefront of the baseball card trade.
Over the next decade, Fairfield continued annual releases of large card sets, regularly featuring 500 cards or more by the late 1910s. The company also began experimenting with color lithography, gilt borders, and higher quality card stock to make their products stand out. The rising costs and increasing competition took their toll. In 1922, facing financial difficulties, Fairfield sold the rights to their baseball card line to the Gum, Inc. subsidiary of the American Chicle Company. This brought an end to over 30 years of pioneering the baseball card market under the Fairfield name.
While no longer an independent entity, Fairfield cards continued to be issued each year through 1925 under the Gum, Inc. imprint. These final sets maintained Fairfield’s reputation for exhaustive statistical coverage and innovations like action photos. The company’s legacy of affordable and widely distributed baseball cards from the 1890s through the 1910s helped fuel America’s initial baseball card craze. Today, early Fairfield cards from the pre-WWI era are among the most prized possessions of serious collectors due to their historical significance and limited surviving populations. Through distribution deals, direct marketing, and constant refinements, Fairfield had firmly established the baseball card as a mainstream collectible and an enduring part of our national pastime.
