Richmond, Kentucky has deep roots in the history of baseball cards and collecting. Located just east of Lexington in Madison County, Richmond was once home to one of the largest sports card manufacturers and distributors in the country.
In the late 1950s, a local printer and publishing company called Piedmont Press got into the baseball card business. At the time, the major manufacturers like Topps, Bowman, and Fleer dominated the market and printed cards featuring current major and minor league players. However, Piedmont Press saw an opportunity to produce nostalgic cards featuring long-retired baseball legends from the early 1900s.
Their first set released in 1959 was called “Piedmont All-Time Greats” and included 48 cards highlighting stars from baseball’s early era like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, and Honus Wagner. While the designs and production quality didn’t match the major brands, collectors eagerly snatched up the sets to add iconic players to their collections that weren’t featured in modern sets. The All-Time Greats were a major success and helped launch Piedmont Press into becoming a serious player in the sports card industry.
Over the next several years, Piedmont Press released larger and more ambitious sets paying tribute to the history of the game. Their 1961 “Golden Era” set featured 184 cards spanning from the 1900s through the 1940s. Each card included stats, career highlights and beautiful black and white photographs of the players. Piedmont also began doing sets focused on individual teams like the 1961 “Detroit Tigers All-Time Greats.”
As the 1960s progressed, they continued building on retro themes. Their 1965 “Baseball Through the Years” set had bi-color cards across three decades. By 1966, Piedmont Press was one of the biggest sports card manufacturers in the country, second only to Topps in total units produced. They also became major suppliers distributing cards for smaller regional companies and factories across the United States.
In the late 1960s, the baseball card market began experiencing major changes that would challenge Piedmont Press’ success model. Topps gained the exclusive rights to current MLB players which made reprinting vintage players in their own sets less appealing to collectors. Meanwhile, increased production quality and flashy artistic designs from Topps, Fleer and others caused the nosy, text-heavy Piedmont cards to appear outdated by comparison.
While Piedmont Press valiantly tried evolving, releasing experimental sets like their futuristic 1968 “2000 A.D.” cards, it was too late to catch up. The sports collecting bubble burst by the early 1970s as kids lost interest and the emergence of other hobbies took buyers elsewhere. Facing declining sales and profitability, Piedmont was ultimately sold in 1973 and closed its card production in Richmond. Many of the original Russell family members who founded the company in the 1940s had also passed away by this time.
While Piedmont Press’ reign at the top didn’t last long in the grand timeline of the industry, the impact and significance of their contribution to the hobby is undeniable. They helped cement nostalgia and team/player history as integral parts of what motivates collectors. Piedmont also proved smaller regional companies could successfully compete if they filled niche areas larger brands overlooked. For a medium-sized city like Richmond, Kentucky, hosting one of the giants in the sports card world for over a decade left an impact felt for generations of local residents.
Today, original vintage Piedmont Press cards remain hotly collected. Modern sets paying homage to their classic designs continue being produced proving their influence is still being drawn from. In the early 2010s, a local attorney and hobby enthusiast named Wendall Duff launched the Piedmont Card Company in Richmond with a mission to revive the classic Piedmont brand and history using modern printing techniques. While on a smaller scale, Piedmont Card Co. sells sets online keeping the Piedmont legacy alive and creating connections to the city’s rich heritage in the industry.
Overall, Richmond’s tangible ties to the baseball card field serve as a reminder of both how much the hobby has grown yet also how regional innovations helped propel it along the way. Even as a small town in central Kentucky, Richmond played an outsized role for a period of time in developing what we now consider iconic aspects of collecting culture. The industrial spirit and passion for the game that allowed Piedmont Press to thrive for so long in the bluegrass left behind memories collectors still look back on fondly today.
