The history of baseball cards in El Cajon, California stretches back over a century. El Cajon has long been a hotbed for baseball fandom in Southern California, and collecting baseball cards was a hugely popular pastime for many local residents throughout the 20th century.
Some of the earliest baseball cards produced in the late 1800s featured stars from the National League and American Association. While these early cards did not depict specific players from El Cajon, they certainly found their way into the collections of early baseball enthusiasts in the growing city. In the early 1900s, El Cajon was still a relatively small town, but the popularity of the sport was growing rapidly across America in the decades following the Civil War.
The first decade of the 20th century saw tremendous growth in the mass production of baseball cards by companies like American Tobacco and the American Caramel Company. Their cigarette and candy products included baseball cards as premiums or incentives to drive sales. Complete sets of the famous T206 and 1909-1911 T206 cards have been uncovered in attics and basements of old homes in El Cajon, a testament to the local interest in amassing cards from this golden era of the game.
In the following decades, the rise of gum and candy companies like Goudey and Play Ball further expanded the baseball card hobby. Young collectors in El Cajon could purchase wax packs containing cards to chew the gum or eat the candy product at corner drug stores and grocery stores throughout the city. Popular local shops like Carl’s Drugs and Franklin Market became regular stops for card collectors seeking to add to their collections. By mid-century, the city had grown considerably and the passion for baseball had only intensified among El Cajon residents of all ages.
The post-World War II era saw several developments that greatly influenced the baseball card scene in El Cajon. The city’s population had ballooned, peaking at over 100,000 residents by the 1960 census. More kids than ever were captivated by the cards included in the ever-popular Topps chewing gum packs. Production values improved, photographs replaced illustrations, and the cards began featuring more statistics and biographical information on the players.
At the same time, the local Little League and Babe Ruth League programs were exploding in popularity. Young players in El Cajon dreamed of one day seeing their own picture on a Topps or Bowman baseball card. The cards served as an inspiration and helped drive interest in the game. Local card shops like Frank’s Sport Collectibles and Bob’s Baseball Memories opened their doors to serve the thriving collectibles market in El Cajon and surrounding East County communities.
In the 1970s, the speculator boom took off as investors and entrepreneurs got in on the action. Rare vintage cards fetched higher prices than ever, and complete sets from the 1950s gained substantial value. Local card shows sprang up around San Diego County, and El Cajon became a regular stop on the show circuit. Promoters like Al Krivoy and collector groups like the East County Card Collectors Club helped organize some of the earliest and largest card shows in the region. Young “flippers” looked to profit on the booming market by purchasing boxes of new issues and reselling individual high-value cards.
The 1980s saw perhaps the peak of the modern baseball card era. Production numbers were massive, encompassing over a dozen active companies. Speculation reached a fever pitch, and enterprising collectors in El Cajon looked to complete flagship sets like Topps, Donruss, and Fleer. Meanwhile, the local memorabilia and autograph market was taking off. Shops hosted signing events with visiting Padres players, and autographed balls and jerseys became popular alternative collectibles. The rise of cable TV exposure and national sports memorabilia auctions fueled more interest in the hobby.
In subsequent decades, the baseball card market experienced both ups and downs. The overproduction crash of the early 1990s led to an industry contraction, and the rise of internet selling impacted local brick-and-mortar shops. Still, the passion for cards has persisted among collectors in El Cajon. Vintage shops continue buying and selling, local shows go on, and donations of valuable vintage collections to the El Cajon Heritage Museum help preserve the rich history of the hobby in the city. Today’s youth remain engaged through online communities, YouTube breakers, and the affordable retro revival sets from companies like Topps. The legacy of baseball card collecting lives on strongly after all these years in El Cajon.