National conventions bring together delegates from all across America to nominate their party’s candidates for President and Vice President. While much of the focus is on the speeches, debates, and votes that take place on the convention floor, other commemorative traditions have developed over the years as well. One of the most creative is the tradition of national convention baseball cards.

Starting in the 1960s, volunteers at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions would create limited edition sets of baseball-style trading cards featuring photos and biographies of the various delegates, alternates, speakers, and VIP guests in attendance. These unique souvenirs were a fun way for attendees to remember their experience and connect with others from their state or party. While largely forgotten today outside political memorabilia circles, convention baseball cards offer a glimpse into the history and personalities that have shaped American democracy.

Each set was carefully assembled by hand during the multi-day conventions. Volunteers would photograph delegates and important guests, research their backgrounds and accomplishments, design card layouts, and operate printing presses to produce several hundred complete sets by the convention’s end. The photos captured the excitement, spectacles, and candid moments of convention week on a smaller scale. They also preserved the faces and stories of many ordinary citizens who played a role in nominating presidential candidates through their involvement in the party process.

Over the years, the quality and production values of convention baseball cards improved significantly. Early 1960s versions were simply typed biographies pasted onto basic baseball card stock. By the late 1970s, cards included full-color photos, printed stats and bios, and logos or illustrations representing the host city. Packs and boxes were even manufactured to protect the condition of the limited run of cards distributed free to attendees before they headed home. Sometimes bonus packs or serially numbered “rare” cards were inserted randomly as an extra thrill.

Unpacking convention baseball card memories is like flipping through a scrapbook of American politics. The 1968 Democratic convention cards in Chicago showcase Eugene McCarthy supporters proudly displaying their candidate’s iconic peace symbol buttons alongside “The Kennedys,” embracing the possibility of a Robert F. Kennedy nomination before his tragic assassination. 1976 Republican cards from Kansas City transport viewers back to Gerald Ford fending off Ronald Reagan’s hostile takeover attempt and remembering George H.W. Bush’s origin story as the upstart challenging a New York liberal, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Not all cards were of politicians either. Key volunteers, staffers, journalists, lobbyists, activists, and prominent political families could find themselves commemorated if they played a big enough role. A full 1980 Democratic set autographed by Ted Kennedy is one of the most prized political collectibles in existence. Sometimes specific positions like convention parliamentarian, sergeant-at-arms or chair of an important committee were spotlighted for their behind-the-scenes work keeping the process running smoothly.

Over time, influences of broader pop culture also crept into convention card designs. In the 1990s, holograms, refractors and other specialty inserts became inserted akin to sports trading cards. By the 2000s, some sets experimented with texture foil or 3D embossing techniques. Subject matter also modernized – 2004 Democratic cards from Boston were the first to highlight prominent blog owners and twitter personalities starting to reshape political media and discourse. 2008 Republican cards from St. Paul highlighted the rising prominence of YouTube and digital organizing within the Ron Paul grassroots movement.

With the decline of local party institutions, shrinking volunteer bases and the professionalization of conventions as highly choreographed televised events, tradition baseball cards disappeared from most recent national gatherings. Some aficionados still work to fill in holes in their collections through secondary market purchases on platforms like eBay. With the future of large in-person conventions uncertain, it remains to be seen if this quirky bridge between civic participation and fandom could make a comeback in a new digital form keeping memory of America’s partisan past alive. Who knows – maybe one day a vintage AOC rookie card could emerge from her famous floor speech turning heads at the 2012 Democratic convention in Charlotte. For now, convention baseball cards offer a small reminder of when politics was a more community and grassroots driven affair.