The Manufacturing History of Baseball Cards
The tradition of collecting and trading baseball cards can be traced all the way back to the late 1800s when cigarette and tobacco companies began inserting photographs of baseball players into cigarette packs as a marketing incentive. Over a hundred years later, baseball cards have evolved into a multi-billion dollar collectibles industry. Along the way, several key manufacturers played pivotal roles in the growth and popularity of baseball cards.
The earliest recognized baseball cards were produced starting in 1869 by a company known then as Goodwin & Co. These original cards were included in packages of game equipment like balls, bats, and catcher’s masks rather than tobacco products. It was the cigarette companies that really popularized the concept of including baseball cards in their packs starting in the 1880s as an advertising gimmick.
Companies like Allen & Ginter, American Tobacco, and Mayo Cut Plug were baseball card pioneers. Their cards featured simple black and white photographs of players from popular teams like the Chicago White Stockings and Boston Beaneaters. These early tobacco era cards from the late 1800s are among the most coveted and valuable in the entire collecting hobby today due to their rarity and historical significance. They represent the true birth of sports card manufacturing.
In 1909, the American Tobacco Company consolidated the industry by acquiring most of its competitors. They then formed the monopolizing Tobacco Trust which controlled the production of baseball cards for several decades through brands like T206. During the early 20th century, their cards included hugely popular sets like T206 and E90 that have become legendary in the hobby. Stars of the deadball era like Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson could all be found in American Tobacco packs.
The most dominant baseball card manufacturer of the post-war era from the 1940s through the 1960s was Topps. Founded in 1938, Topps overtook the cigarette companies as the primary sports cards provider. Their innovative designs and inclusion of more graphic images truly brought the cards into the modern collecting era. Topps released highly successful and iconic sets like 1952, 1956, and their flagship 1969 issue which is still considered the most famous set of all-time. For multiple generations in the mid-20th century, Topps practically owned the baseball card market.
In the late 1980s, Topps began facing stiff competition from new competitors like Fleer and Donruss who sought licenses to produce cards for the recently re-organized Major League Baseball. This marked the beginning of the modern era of licensed sportscard manufacturing. Fleer and Donruss released innovative sets with new technologies like the”Pro Graded Prospects” subset and multi-level marketing techniques. Their rapid growth threatened Topps’ decades-long monopoly.
The dawn of the 1990s saw the ultimate challenge to Topps as rival manufacturer Upper Deck entered the market. Building on the success of Donruss and Fleer, Upper Deck truly broke Topps’ stranglehold by outbidding them for the MLB license in 1989. Their super premium card stock and inserts featuring pieces of game-used memorabilia set new standards which Topps scrambled to match. Upper Deck’s “Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card” is considered the most valuable modern card ever produced.
By the mid-1990s, increased competition and a speculative bubble caused the baseball card market to crash. Fleer and Donruss were forced out of the annual set business while Upper Deck’s market dominance was diminished. Topps survived and remains the major power in the industry today along with new competitors like Panini who have sought to innovate by acquiring licenses from the NBA, NFL and worldwide soccer leagues.
In the over 150 years since those original 1869 Goodwin baseball cards, the manufacturing of sports cards has grown into a multinational, multi-billion dollar licensed collectibles industry. Along the way, companies like Topps, Upper Deck, Fleer and American Tobacco radically changed and grew the hobby from its early tobacco-era roots through constant innovation and business evolution. Without these pioneering companies, baseball cards almost certainly would not have become a mainstream American pastime enjoyed by generations of collectors.
