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DAN DEE POTATO CHIPS BASEBALL CARDS

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Dan Dee potato chips and baseball cards have long been intertwined in American popular culture. The Dan Dee Potato Chip Company began including baseball cards in their potato chip packages starting in the 1950s, helping to popularize both potato chips and baseball cards across the United States.

Dan Dee was founded in Zanesville, Ohio in 1946 by Fred and Helen Danis. They named the company after their daughter, Danielle “Dan Dee” Danis. Starting small, producing potato chips in the family kitchen, Dan Dee grew quickly thanks to their innovative marketing. In the early 1950s, Fred Danis had the idea to include small promotional items in Dan Dee potato chip bags as a way to attract new customers and encourage repeat purchases.

Danis landed on including sports cards as the promotional item. Baseball was hugely popular in the post-World War 2 era and collecting baseball cards was a beloved hobby of many American children. In 1953, Dan Dee partnered with Topps, the dominant baseball card manufacturer, to produce a series of 1954 Topps cards specifically for inclusion in Dan Dee potato chip bags.

These “Dan Dee edition” 1954 Topps cards were nearly identical to the standard Topps issue of that year but had a small “Dan Dee Potato Chips” logo printed on the reverse. An estimated 10 million of these Dan Dee edition cards were produced and distributed nationwide in Dan Dee potato chip bags over the 1953-1954 season. They featured stars like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, early career Hank Aaron and over 400 total players.

The Dan Dee edition 1954 Topps cards were an immediate success. Kids eagerly ripped open bags of chips hoping for cards of their favorite players. The cards and potato chips proved a winning combination that drove massive sales increases for both Dan Dee and Topps. Baseball card collecting exploded in popularity. The Dan Dee edition cards from this era have become highly valuable to collectors today in their original mint condition, sometimes fetching thousands of dollars each for a single rare card.

Encouraged by this success, Dan Dee continued their partnership with Topps and issued Dan Dee edition versions of the 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958 Topps sets as well. These subsequent vintage Dan Dee cards also included the “Dan Dee Potato Chips” logo on the backs. The companies also experimented with other promotional sports cards over the years, issuing Dan Dee editions of 1957 and 1958 Bowman baseball, 1959 Topps football, and 1960s/1970s Topps and Fleer basketball cards.

Throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, finding sports cards in Dan Dee potato chip bags was an eagerly anticipated thrill for countless American children. The combination helped turn baseball cards from a niche hobby into a mainstream pastime. It also cemented Dan Dee as a household name brand coast to coast, riding the popularity wave of baseball cards, potato chips and affordable family entertainment during the economic boom years after WWII.

As Dan Dee and Topps baseball card promotions continued to drive sales in the 1950s-1960s, other potato chip companies like Frito-Lay and Utz began running their own sports card inserts as well. The sports card giveaway became an expected part of the potato chip shopping experience. However, Dan Dee was the true pioneer and innovator who first realized the marketing potential there over 60 years ago.

Into the 1970s and 1980s, as interest in baseball cards temporarily declined, Dan Dee and other brands shifted their promotions to non-sports items like puzzles, temporary tattoos and comic cards instead of licensed sports issues. But the tradition of surprise extras inside potato chip bags had been established. Today some brands like Lay’s still include various promotional items, though sports cards are less common.

For collectors of vintage cards and pop culture memorabilia from the mid-20th century, Dan Dee potato chip baseball cards hold a special nostalgic place. They represent the heyday of affordable family entertainment, when kids could find treasures in a bag of chips. In the collections of serious vintage enthusiasts, a pristine mint condition 1954 Mickey Mantle Dan Dee card remains among the most prized possessions. Through their simple but innovative marketing idea, Fred and Helen Danis helped create lifelong hobbyists and fuel the multibillion-dollar sports memorabilia industry we know today. The legacy of Dan Dee potato chips and baseball cards lives on.

CRANE POTATO CHIPS BASEBALL CARDS

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Crane Potato Chips and Baseball Cards: An American Pastime

For many Americans in the mid-20th century, enjoying a bag of Crane Potato Chips while flipping through their baseball card collection was a beloved pastime. Crane Potato Chips, based out of Chicago, Illinois, began including baseball cards in their chip bags starting in the 1930s as a marketing promotion. This partnership between a popular snack food and America’s favorite sport helped fuel the rise of baseball card collecting as a mainstream hobby.

Crane Potato Chips had been producing potato chips since the late 19th century and were one of the leading regional brands in the Midwest by the 1930s. Looking for new ways to attract customers, the company’s marketing department came up with the idea of including baseball cards in bags of chips. Baseball had surged in popularity in the 1920s, with attendance at major league games reaching record highs. Including baseball cards offered chip-eating fans the chance to build a collection of their favorite players while enjoying Crane’s crispy potato chips.

The first Crane baseball cards issued in the 1930s featured current major leaguers from both the American and National Leagues. Early cards showcased star players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Dizzy Dean. The cards measured about 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches and were printed on a thin cardboard stock. Only one or two cards would be found randomly in a bag of Crane Potato Chips. This created an air of surprise and excitement for kids and adults tearing into a bag, hoping to find a prized player card among the chips.

Through the 1930s and 1940s, Crane continued including baseball cards in their potato chip bags, helping fuel a boom in card collecting across the country. While other snack companies like Frito and Planters also experimented with included sports cards, Crane remained the leader. Their cards featured the latest seasons’ players and served as affordable ways for fans to build complete sets without having to purchase wax packs of cards found in stores. Crane cards from this era are now highly prized by vintage baseball card collectors.

In the postwar years of the 1950s, Crane expanded their baseball card offerings. Along with current major leaguers, the company began including cards featuring all-time great players from baseball’s early years in the 1800s and 1900s. Icons like Cy Young, Honus Wagner, and Ty Cobb appeared on Crane cards from this decade. Crane also issued cards highlighting individual player accomplishments, stadiums, and baseball highlights. Their cards helped introduce younger fans to the rich history of America’s pastime.

By the 1960s, Crane faced new competition from Frito and other larger snack brands that were also including sports cards. But Crane maintained their position as a top regional potato chip brand in the Midwest. Their baseball cards from the 1960s showcased the biggest stars of that era like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax. Crane also added cards featuring players from the Negro Leagues, college baseball, and international competitions to further expand collectors’ options.

Rising production costs and new safety regulations governing surprise inserts in snack foods would spell the end for Crane including baseball cards in their potato chip bags. Their final baseball cards were issued in 1969 before the promotion was discontinued. By that point, the hobby of baseball card collecting had grown enormously, with kids across the country amassing collections in shoeboxes, albums and binders. Crane Potato Chips could take pride in helping start a trend that engaged children and adults with their favorite ballplayers for generations.

While Crane Potato Chips faded from the national scene by the 1970s, their legacy of combining snacks with baseball cards lives on. Millions of their vintage cards from the 1930s through 1960s remain in the hands of avid collectors today. On eBay, a near-mint Crane card of Babe Ruth can sell for over $1000. For those who enjoyed tearing open a bag of Crane Chips hoping to find a prized baseball card decades ago, the memories of that pastime remain an indelible part of American sporting culture. The partnership between Crane and baseball endures as an example of innovative marketing that helped build fan connections to America’s favorite professional sport.