The history of baseball cards in Cambridge, Ontario dates back to the late 19th century when the hobby first began gaining popularity across North America. Some of the earliest baseball cards featuring Major League players were printed in the late 1880s by tobacco companies as promotional items included in their cigarette and chewing tobacco packages.

While these vintage cards were primarily collected by children and teenagers at the time, a dedicated group of adult collectors and dealers emerged in Cambridge in the early 20th century who helped spark interest in the growing hobby locally. One of the first known baseball card collectors and dealers in the area was William Clark, who amassed a large collection of Tobacco Era cards in the 1910s and 1920s that he would often display and trade at local hobby shops and card shows.

In the post-World War II era following 1945, the popularity of baseball cards truly exploded with the arrival of the modern cardboard issues produced by Topps, Bowman, and other gum and candy companies. Young boys across Cambridge and the surrounding region became avid collectors, often trading and talking cards on the playgrounds, in school yards, and at local sports. Some of the most iconic and valuable vintage sets from this period include the 1952 and 1953 Topps sets, as well as high-series issues from Bowman.

During the 1950s, several local card shops opened in Cambridge that catered specifically to baseball card collectors, including Stan’s Sportscards which opened its doors in 1954 and is still in business today. Owned and operated by lifelong Cambridge resident Stan Wilkerson, the shop became a popular hangout for collectors of all ages and helped foster a real sense of community among local hobbyists. Wilkerson organized some of the first annual card shows in the area, drawing collectors from across Southern Ontario.

Into the 1960s and 1970s, the card collecting boom continued unabated. Some of the most popular vintage issues during this period included the 1965 Topps set, the 1968 Topps set featuring the debut of Nolan Ryan’s rookie card, and high-numbers issues from the 1971 Topps set which are now highly valuable. Local card shops like Stan’s Sportscards did a booming business, and annual card shows grew larger and more prominent on the calendar each year. Cambridge native Garry Unger, who went on to play in the NHL, also cultivated a love for cards during his youth in the city.

In the 1980s, interest in baseball cards remained strong in Cambridge despite warnings that the market was in a “bubble.” The city was home to several competitive teams in the Canadian Baseball Card Collectors Association, and local shops saw huge crowds on release days for the flagship Topps and Donruss sets each year. The market did crash by the late 1980s due to an overproduction of cards that led to a collapse in values. Many local shops closed their doors for good during this difficult period.

Through the 1990s and 2000s, the card collecting hobby adapted, with a renewed focus on memorabilia cards, autographs, and unopened wax packs from the golden era of the 1950s-1970s. Shops like Stan’s Sportscards stayed in business by catering to this evolving niche market. Cambridge also became home to several large private collectors and dealers during this period, including Cameron Mabee whose inventory of vintage Leaf and O-Pee-Chee hockey cards became highly valuable. Annual card shows also downsized but remained community events for collectors.

In the modern era, baseball card collecting remains a steady niche hobby in Cambridge, now largely focused on vintage rather than modern issues. Sites like eBay also fueled a renewed interest in uncovering gems from the past, and shops like Stan’s continue preserving the history and community of the hobby locally. Cambridge is now home to several elite private collections of Tobacco Era rarities through to the 1970s that will hopefully be preserved to educate future generations about the origins and history of baseball cards in the region.