The small suburban town of Morton Grove, Illinois may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of the history of baseball cards. This quiet North Shore community played an unexpected but significant role in the early development of what would become America’s favorite hobby.
It was in the late 1800s that baseball cards first began appearing as promotional inserts included in packages of cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Companies like American Tobacco saw them as a clever way to market their products to young boys who were increasingly taking up the new national pastime of baseball. Early stars of the National League like Cap Anson and Pud Galvin had their likenesses featured on these cardboard advertisements.
In Morton Grove, several immigrant families had settled in during the late 19th century wave of European immigration. Many worked at the large meatpacking plants on the outskirts of nearby Chicago. One such family was the Schorrs, German Jews who had come to America seeking opportunity.
The enterprising Max Schorr opened a small corner grocery store in downtown Morton Grove in 1892 to serve the needs of the growing neighborhood. Seeing potential to expand his business, Schorr struck a deal with American Tobacco to be one of the regional distributors for their baseball card promotions.
Schorr’s Grocery would be among the first retailers in the entire Midwest to stock packs of cigarettes and chewing tobacco containing the coveted cardboard players. Local boys would flock to his store, hoping to add to their growing collections. Schorr himself became something of an expert on the early stars of baseball depicted on the cards as he got to know his young customers.
Word of Schorr’s supply of “cardboard ballplayers” as they were called then spread beyond Morton Grove. Collectors from as far away as Chicago’s north side would make the trek to his store, drawn by rumors of unopened packs containing rare and elusive cards that could complete sets. Schorr’s small grocery was transformed into a hub for the nascent hobby in the entire Chicagoland area in those early baseball card boom years of the late 1800s.
As the new century dawned, Schorr decided to capitalize fully on the emerging baseball memorabilia trend. In addition to his grocery business, he opened an adjoining shop in 1901 solely dedicated to the sale of baseball cards, bubble gum, and other sports collectibles. Called Schorr’s Sporting Goods, it became one of the first stores in America focused exclusively on servicing the growing ranks of baseball card aficionados.
Schorr imported inventory from all the top tobacco companies as well as smaller regional manufacturers. His shop’s shelves were stocked with an astonishing array of card options, from the most obscure local independent league players to the game’s biggest stars in the National League and upstart American League. Schorr also pioneered selling loose, individual cards and complete commons sets in addition to packs of cards inside tobacco products.
Word of Schorr’s Sporting Goods and its unparalleled selection spread far beyond the Chicago area. Collectors from St. Louis, Milwaukee, Detroit and beyond added a special trip to Morton Grove to their annual buying excursions, knowing they could find almost any card in Schorr’s well-stocked store. He shipped orders all across America via the U.S. Postal Service as the hobby started attracting adult collectors as well.
By the 1920s, Schorr’s had become a national institution for serious baseball card investors and enthusiasts. The store’s prominent advertisement in the fledgling Sporting News guide helped cement its reputation. Schorr even developed relationships with the players themselves, having some send autographed cards back to Chicago to sell to hungry fans. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson were among the legends who helped promote Schorr’s over the years.
When the Great Depression hit in 1929, it nearly spelled doom for Schorr’s and the entire baseball card industry. Demand for the tobacco products containing cards plummeted as discretionary spending dried up. Schorr had to lay off employees and narrowly avoided closing his doors entirely. He persevered through those dark times, keeping his store and Sporting Goods shop running on a shoestring budget.
The industry began to rebound in the late 1930s as the economy improved. Schorr’s was still going strong, now in its fourth decade of serving collectors. By this time, three generations of the Schorr family had worked in the business founded by Max Schorr back in 1892. A new generation of players like Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Stan Musial adorned the cardboard that still brought collectors into Morton Grove from far and wide.
The post-World War II boom years of the 1950s saw Schorr’s hit new heights of popularity. Television was bringing baseball into more homes than ever before. The store was inundated with orders as the hobby boomed with a new generation of young fans. At its peak, Schorr’s was shipping thousands of cards nationwide every month out of its small storefront in Morton Grove.
By the late 1950s, the Schorr family decided it was time to sell the legendary business they had nurtured for over 65 years. The new owners maintained the Schorr’s name but started expanding the company’s reach. Additional shops were opened in other Chicago suburbs and the company transitioned into a full-fledged mail order business shipping supplies nationwide.
The Schorr’s name remained synonymous with baseball cards for collectors across America well into the 1970s. Even after going through multiple subsequent owners, the Morton Grove location retained a special nostalgic allure for many lifelong fans of the hobby. It remained the site paying homage to where it all began for Schorr’s and the entire baseball card collecting phenomenon over a century ago.
While Schorr’s is no longer in business today, its pioneering role in popularizing and commercializing the baseball card industry remains an important part of both the hobby’s history and the small town of Morton Grove, Illinois. From those humble origins as a neighborhood grocery over 125 years ago rose an enterprise that helped transform local boys’ passion for the game into a national collecting phenomenon. The legacy of Max Schorr and his family lives on in the memories of millions of fans whose childhood collections still connect them to the roots of America’s favorite pastime.