The tradition of collecting baseball cards has deep roots in Lee’s Summit, Missouri dating back to the late 19th century. Some of the earliest baseball card collectors and traders in the region lived in what was then a small rural town located just east of Kansas City.
In the post-Civil War era as baseball was growing into America’s national pastime, tobacco companies began inserting illustrated baseball cards into cigarette and chewing tobacco packs as a marketing gimmick. Young boys in Lee’s Summit eagerly awaited the arrival of new shipments at the local general store and druggist, hoping to find rare cards of their favorite players. Summers were spent riding bicycles from house to house, arranging trades and growing collections with friends.
Some of the earliest and most coveted cards collected in Lee’s Summit featured stars from the late 1800s like Cap Anson, Jim O’Rourke, and Buck Ewing. As the decades went by, collectors added cards of new legends like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig to their cherished piles stored safely in dresser drawers, cigar boxes, and homemade albums.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the hobby boomed in Lee’s Summit as mass production by companies like Topps, Bowman, and Goudey made collecting more accessible than ever before. Young boys traded lunch money and saved allowance in hopes of finding elusive rookies of future Hall of Famers like Ted Williams and Stan Musial. Summertime was spent riding the trolley lines that crisscrossed the town, visiting candy stores and mom & pop shops to search through the latest shipments.
As Lee’s Summit transitioned from a small town to a bustling suburb after World War II, card collecting remained a hugely popular pastime. Teenagers flocked to the new shopping centers along Main Street to check stock at drugstores like Sav-Mor and Walgreens. Cigar emporiums like Jax Cigar were also vital hubs where collectors congregated to swap doubles and admire prized possessions behind storefront glass.
During the 1950s, Lee’s Summit saw a golden age of baseball cards as production boomed and more kids than ever were taking part in the hobby. New sets from Topps, Bowman, and others arrived each spring, filled with young stars just starting their big league careers. Local favorites like Bob Watson, Joe Cunningham, and Larry Jackson were among those who appeared in the new crops of cardboard.
Trading cards also became a thriving commercial enterprise in Lee’s Summit during this post-war period. Entrepreneurial teenagers set up shop at the local drive-ins, ballfields, and swimming pools to peddle wares from their bursting shoeboxes and suitcases. Special “trader days” were organized where hundreds of collectors from around the region would converge to cut deals.
The 1960s marked the beginning of the modern era of organized collecting. Teenagers and young adults began carefully organizing and storing their childhood collections, with an eye towards preservation and potential future value. The first informal card shows were held in local fire stations and VFW halls. Meanwhile, new collectors were taking up the hobby, pursuing complete sets from the latest Topps and Fleer issues featuring superstars like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.
In the 1970s, collecting boomed to new heights in Lee’s Summit as the baby boom generation fully embraced the hobby. New specialty card shops like Summit Sportscards opened to cater to the collector crowd. Meanwhile, card shows grew in both size and stature, drawing hundreds of vendors and thousands of attendees looking to buy, sell and trade. Lee’s Summit natives like Bill Buckner, George Brett, and Willie Wilson saw their rookie cards appear in sets and were popular signings at local autograph shows.
The speculative boom and bust of the late 1980s had ripple effects in Lee’s Summit. Prices soared for vintage stars like Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth. Meanwhile, investors snapped up unopened boxes of modern stars like Donruss Ken Griffey Jr. Hopes were high that unopened wax packs and boxes purchased for mere hundreds would someday be worth small fortunes. The market eventually crashed, leaving many collectors and investors nursing heavy losses.
Through economic ups and downs, baseball card collecting remained a treasured pastime for generations in Lee’s Summit. In the 1990s, the growth of the internet allowed local collectors to easily buy, sell and trade with people around the world. Websites like eBay also had a major impact, creating new secondary markets and price guides. Today, Lee’s Summit boasts one of the largest hobby shop scenes in the region. Annual card shows draw thousands, while local card clubs help sustain generational interest.
Over a century and a half since the first baseball cards arrived in Lee’s Summit, the tradition endures. Young collectors still chase down the latest rookies and parallels at local shops, hoping for a find that could someday be worth something special. Meanwhile, many lifelong collectors continue preserving and enjoying the cardboard treasures accrued over decades, keeping alive memories of summers past and connecting to the heritage of America’s favorite pastime.