Baseball cards have a long history in the United States dating back to the late 1800s. Over the decades, the hobby of collecting baseball cards flourished across the country, including in small towns like Greenwood, Indiana. Located just south of Indianapolis, Greenwood developed a strong baseball card collecting culture that still exists today.
Some of the earliest baseball cards produced in the late 19th century featured stars of the time like Cap Anson and Pud Galvin. While these vintage cards are extremely rare and valuable today, they helped spark interest in the players and teams among young fans. In the early 1900s, tobacco companies like American Tobacco and cigarette manufacturers began inserting baseball cards as incentives in packs and tins of tobacco products. These tobacco era cards from the early 20th century featured the biggest names in the game at the time like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Walter Johnson.
As baseball grew in popularity nationally after World War I and World War II, so too did the hobby of collecting baseball cards. Greenwood was no exception, as the hometown Indianapolis Indians minor league team and Major League teams like the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals had a strong following among local youth. In the post-war 1940s and 1950s, many Greenwood boys could be found trading and discussing their baseball card collections on street corners, in schoolyards, and at local drug stores.
Topps Chewing Gum became the dominant baseball card manufacturer starting in the 1950s. Their innovative design featuring a single player per card helped spur new interest. Greenwood kids eagerly awaited the release of the new Topps sets each spring, saving their allowance and lunch money to purchase wax packs at local stores. Popular hangouts for baseball card traders in Greenwood during this time period included Martins Drugs downtown and Millers 5 & 10 variety store. Many lifelong friendships were forged over arguments about which cards were the most valuable in each year’s Topps set.
The late 1950s and 1960s represented the golden age of baseball card collecting in America. More and more Greenwood kids were immersed in the hobby, and the release of each new Topps set was a highly anticipated event. In the summer of 1964, the Topps company issued 660 different cards as part of their regular baseball card set, one of the largest assortments ever. This helped take collecting to new heights among Greenwood’s youth. Meanwhile, the city’s love for the hometown Indianapolis Indians continued to fuel interest in the players and prospects featured each year on local minor league cards.
Throughout the 1970s, baseball card collecting remained enormously popular in Greenwood. The rise of higher paying jobs and increased costs of raising a family meant many adults had less time and money to dedicate to their childhood hobby. Still, local card shops like Greenwood Trading Post did a brisk business catering to collectors of all ages. The 1973 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets featuring Nolan Ryan’s record breaking season helped renew enthusiasm. In the late 1970s, Greenwood saw the rise of the first generation of “adult collectors,” folks who never outgrew their love for the cards and sets from their youth.
In the 1980s, Greenwood and the entire baseball card industry witnessed unprecedented growth, fueled by the arrival of superstar players like Rickey Henderson and Dwight Gooden onto the scene. Production values of the cards improved greatly. More specialty and oddball sets beyond the Topps flagship releases gained popularity as well. Card shops in Greenwood like Greenwood Sportscards did a booming business to keep up with rising demand. The speculative boom was unsustainable. By the late 1980s, the market became oversaturated with product and the bottom fell out. Many local shops went out of business.
Through the 1990s and 2000s, baseball card collecting remained a steady hobby among Greenwood residents young and old. It became more specialized, with collectors focusing on certain players, teams, sets, or eras rather than attempting to amass complete sets. The internet also transformed the hobby, allowing for easier trading online. Today, local card shops like All-Star Cards have adapted to this new collecting landscape. While the speculative boom days may be in the past, the legacy of baseball card collecting lives on in Greenwood, a cherished piece of the city’s sports culture and history. Greenwood residents both continue to treasure their childhood collections and pass on the hobby to new generations.