Philadelphia Caramel was a brand of caramel candy manufactured by the James O. McKinney & Company in Philadelphia during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company is most famous for including baseball trading cards in some of its caramel packs from 1909 to 1911. These early baseball cards helped popularize the sport and marked a collectible craze that continues to this day.
The McKinney Company produced a wide variety of caramels from their factory founded in Philadelphia in 1890. They became one of the leading caramel makers in America. By the early 1900s, the company sought ways to boost sales and keep up with competitors who were starting to include premiums, or small toys/novelty items, inside candy wrappers or packages.
In 1909, the company’s executives decided to try including illustrated trading cards featuring popular baseball players inside select boxes or packs of McKinney caramels. Collecting photos of famous people was a trendy hobby during the early 20th century, and baseball was rising in popularity across the United States. The company chose baseball cards as they felt the sport perfectly aligned with their “kid-friendly” market for the caramels.
The exact first year Philadelphia Caramel produced baseball cards is debated, but most experts agree it began either in 1909 or sometime late in 1908. The cards were small, measuring approximately 1 5/8 inches by 2 5/8 inches. They featured color illustrations of individual major league players from the National League and American League on the front. On the back, each card included the player’s photograph as well as basic stats.
Some key details about the Philadelphia Caramel baseball cards include:
The front portraits were lithographed in color while the backs featured real photo images. This differed from modern cardboard trading cards.
An estimated 101 total cards were produced across the three years, featuring stars like Cy Young, Napoleon Lajoie, and Honus Wagner. Fewer than 25 examples survive today.
Distribution was limited and random, as the cards were inserted into factory-sealed caramel packs without any regulated checklist. This makes unopened packs extraordinarily rare finds today.
Later series from 1910-1911 saw improvements in photo quality and included minor league players too, expanding the checklist beyond just the majors.
When first released, the cards were meant purely as candy premiums – novel collectibles to entice kids into buying more caramels. Word soon spread among the young people receiving them that the cards could also be traded. This led to the early informal beginnings of what would develop into organized baseball card collecting and trading.
The success of Philadelphia Caramel’s experiment inspired other candy-makers to follow suit. In the next few years, similar premium cards appeared packaged with products like Pinsch Cigarettes, Passauer Bier pretzels and Elk brands cigars. These early promotions helped cement baseball cards as a mainstream collectible item.
Meanwhile, the McKinney Company continued producing its Philadelphia Caramel line of candies and cards through 1911. Competition was increasing significantly in the caramel industry at this time. In 1912, the company was sold to its main rival, the Stark Candy Company of Missouri. Stark continued providing popular caramel products to consumers but ended all inclusion of baseball cards after acquiring McKinney’s factories and brands.
The colorful and pioneering Philadelphia Caramel baseball cards of 1909-1911 remain among the most coveted and iconic in the entire collecting hobby today. Prices for high-grade unmunched specimens in collectible condition currently climb into the six-figure range. While short-lived as a candy premium, these cardboard promotions marked the true beginning of organized baseball card collecting still followed passionately over 100 years later. The McKinney company’s unique idea to include baseball players as incentives helped fuel both baseball’s rise to national popularity and the sports memorabilia business into the huge industry it is now recognized as worldwide.
Philadelphia Caramel baseball cards were an innovative marketing ploy that unexpectedly sparked collecting mania. They started the tradition of including sports cards as candy and cigarette bonuses that exploded in the 1950s. As one of the first sets ever released, these colorful lithographed cards featuring stars from the deadball era attained legendary status among enthusiasts. Even over a century after their small-batch production, the allure of finding an intact Philadelphia Caramel pack from 1909-1911 continues to excite imaginations and fuel the modern baseball card collecting culture.
