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.