Pat Strange was an amateur collector and dealer of baseball cards in the early 20th century. While not well known today, Strange amassed one of the most remarkable collections of vintage baseball cards in the history of the hobby. His cards would become highly sought after by today’s serious collectors.
Strange was born in 1894 in rural Pennsylvania. As a young boy, he became fascinated by baseball and would frequently visit the local candy store, which also sold packs of baseball cards as a promotional item. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, nearly all gum and candy companies included sports cards as incentives to buy their products. Strange saved every baseball card he obtained and was soon assembling a sizable collection.
At age 15 in 1909, Strange decided to try selling some of his duplicate cards to help earn pocket money. He set up a small display at the local general store advertising his “used baseball cards for sale.” Business was slow at first, but Strange was persistent. He became knowledgeable about the players and statistics on each card to better market his merchandise. Within a few years, he had developed a loyal customer base of other young collectors in the area.
In the mid-1910s, Strange realized there was potential to expand his business. He began taking his growing inventory of cards to larger outdoor markets and trade shows in nearby towns on weekends. Cards from the late 19th century were especially rare finds. Strange taught himself the emerging market values and carefully tracked what cards were in highest demand. He enjoyed researching the biographies of old-time players whose careers began before he was even born.
By the late 1910s, Strange had resigned himself to never reaching the major leagues as a player. Instead, his focus was growing his fledgling baseball card company full time. In 1918 at the age of 24, he gathered his life savings and rented a storefront in a small Pennsylvania city. Pat Strange Sports Cards was officially in business. He filled the shelves and display cases with his vast personal collection as the store’s foundation inventory.
Word of Strange’s unique shop traveled fast throughout the baseball card enthusiast communities. Collectors from around the state and beyond began visiting on a regular basis. In the pre-internet era, it quickly became one of the top destinations for finding rare vintage cards that could not be obtained anywhere else. Strange carried wax packs of the newest cards as well but specialized in accommodating the growing market for collectibles from the games’ earliest decades.
During the heyday of his store in the Roaring Twenties, Strange further expanded his inventory through larger purchases directly from other serious collectors looking to liquidate parts of their holdings. He paid top dollar when needed to obtain true condition rarities. Meanwhile, Strange worked tirelessly to catalog, grade, and authentic every individual card crossing through his store to maintain his sterling reputation.
Some of the most prized cards to pass through Strange’s shop included pristine examples of the infamous 1909-1911 T206 series, the earliest issued baseball cards. Highlights of his T206 collections included near-mint Hondurus and Egypt back variations, both valued today in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. He also featured remarkable specimens from other pioneering sets such as B9B, B15, B20, B24 and B302.
In the early 1930s, the Great Depression hit America and the sports card market seriously declined. Fewer packs were printed each year and consumer spending dried up almost entirely. Strange struggled to stay open as his business suffered tremendously. He was forced to sell off large parts of his cherished collection to raise operating funds. It was heartbreaking to see decades of collecting walk out the door.
When World War II revitalized the economy in the 1940s, interest in baseball cards began growing again. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. had taken over the lucrative licensing rights in baseball and other sports. Their innovative design on the 1948 Leaf brand cards featuring full-color player photos reenergized the sports collecting world.
By this time, Pat Strange had closed his shop and retired from the business side of the hobby. He still maintained an impressive collection of 19th and early 20th century materials from his heyday. In the ensuing decades, Strange enjoyed showing off his lifetime of assembling cards to the new generations joining the scene.
Sadly, Pat Strange passed away in 1971 a legend of the vintage sports card industry. Many of the greatest collections existing today include prized specimens directly traced back to passing through his famous store at one time. According to his wishes, Strange’s remaining personal stock was sold wholesale to boost his family inheritance. The historic inventory ignited a feeding frenzy among today’s auction houses and elite dealers.
Over a century after its start, Pat Strange’s name lives on as a pioneering figure who helped establish the sports memorabilia market. Without dedicated collectors like him preserving cards from baseball’s earliest eras, much of the hobby’s rich history could have been lost. Even the most valuable examples of T206s, B9B, and more owe their survival partly to Strange’s contributions. For that, he remains one of the most influential figures whom serious vintage collectors admire.
