Baseball cards have been an integral part of American culture and childhood memories for over a century. While cities like Chicago, New York, and Boston are often associated with the early development of baseball cards, the town of Davenport, Iowa also played an important role in the history of these collectible trading cards.
Located along the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa, Davenport was a bustling industrial center during the late 19th century growth of professional baseball. Several minor and regional leagues operated teams in Davenport during the early decades that baseball cards were produced. This included the Three-I League in the 1890s and the Mississippi Valley League in the early 20th century.
Some of the earliest baseball cards featuring Davenport players began appearing in the late 1880s and 1890s as the collecting craze started to take off across the United States. Companies like Goodwin & Company, Mayo Cut Plug, and Old Judge Tobacco began issuing regional sets that included stars from the minor leagues, such as those playing for Davenport teams. Players with Davenport connections who appeared in early baseball cards included Pete Hotaling, Jack Chapman, and Bill Lange, who all suited up for Three-I League clubs in the city during the 1890s.
In the early 1900s, Davenport was home to teams in the Class B Mississippi Valley League, known as the MVL. As the popularity of baseball cards grew nationwide in the Edwardian Era, players from the MVL, including those on Davenport-based squads, began receiving wider distribution in regional tobacco sets. Stars like Walter Holke, Eddie Grant, and Harry Swacina, who performed for the Davenport teams in the MVL during the 1905-1908 seasons, had their likenesses memorialized in tobacco cards issued by companies like Sweet Caporal, Brisk, and Cycle cigarettes.
The rise of nationally distributed baseball card sets in the 1910s brought more attention and collecting opportunities for fans based in Davenport. Goudey Gum Company issued its pioneering modern set featuring only major leaguers from 1911-1912, but regional players still found card fame. In 1915, Cracker Jack brand issued a set highlighting minor league stars, including former Davenport residents Jack Fournier and Bill Cunningham. Even well into the 1920s, Davenport natives like Bill Wambsganss and Eddie Foster remained popular enough to land cards after making the majors.
As the first modern baseball card boom faded in the late 1910s due to World War I, Davenport collectors still had opportunities to find cards of local heroes. In the 1920s, regional tobacco sets from Goodwin Champions and Murad Turkish Tipped continued distributing cards featuring former MVL standouts. The city also hosted a Three-I League franchise called the Davenport Blue Sox during the late 1920s, introducing a new generation of future card subjects like Jack Saltzgaver and Dick Barrett.
The next great leap forward for baseball cards and Davenport collectors came in 1933 with the inaugural Goudey Gum Company set. For the first time, virtually every current major and minor leaguer received card distribution. This opened the floodgates to stardom for Davenport natives who had risen up the ranks, including future Hall of Famer Burleigh Grimes and talented hurlers like Johnny Niggeling. Their 1933 Goudey cards remain highly collectible for Davenport-area hobbyists over 85 years later.
Through World War II and the postwar boom years of the late 1940s-1950s, Davenport continued to be a hotbed for baseball talent on the cusp of card fame. Players like Max Macon, Johnny Schmitz, Ed Stevens, and Bob Usher toiled in the minors, often passing through Davenport en route to the majors and card stardom. The postwar era also saw the rise of modern sets like Topps that made virtually every professional a card-carrying member of the hobby. This meant hometown heroes like Jim Piersall and Don Zimmer received cardboard commemorations.
Into the 1960s, ’70s and beyond, the connection between Davenport and baseball cards remained strong. Iowans continued to reach the majors and find card fame, including Jim Brosnan, Tom Hall, and Bill North. Meanwhile, the city hosted minor league teams well into the 1950s, keeping the local connection to the sport and hobby alive. Davenportans also had the opportunity to collect and trade the modern issues from Topps, Fleer, and other manufacturers that depicted their local links to America’s pastime.
To this day, Davenport remains inextricably tied to the history of baseball cards. The city’s role in developing the early minor leagues and incubating future card subjects in the late 19th/early 20th centuries ensured its place in the story of America’s favorite collectible. For over 125 years, Davenport baseball fans have enjoyed the unique connection between their community and the cardboard stars that memorialized the area’s deep baseball roots. Whether hunting vintage tobacco issues or ripping modern packs, the baseball card collecting tradition remains alive and well among residents of this Mississippi River town in eastern Iowa.