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BASEBALL CARDS SCRANTON PA

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Baseball cards have been an integral part of American culture for over a century, allowing fans to collect pieces of the game they love. Scranton, Pennsylvania has a long history with baseball cards dating back to the early 1900s. As one of the largest cities in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Scranton was home to many avid baseball fans who enjoyed collecting and trading cards featuring their favorite players and teams.

Some of the earliest baseball cards produced in the late 1880s and early 1890s featured players from the National League and American Association. These antique cards are now highly sought after by collectors. While it’s impossible to know exactly when the first baseball cards made their way to Scranton, it was likely during this early period in the late 19th century as interest in the professional game was growing nationwide. Young boys in Scranton would have enjoyed opening packs of cards, hoping to find stars of the day like Cap Anson or Amos Rusie.

In the early 20th century, tobacco companies like American Tobacco and cigarette manufacturer George W. Hill Company began inserting baseball cards as incentives in their tobacco products. These tobacco era cards from the 1910s-1930s featured colorful images of players and are some of the most iconic baseball cards ever made. Stores in Scranton sold many tobacco products with baseball cards inside during this golden age of the hobby. Kids would pool their allowance money, hoping to complete sets by trading duplicate cards with friends at school or the local playground.

Scranton was also home to several minor league baseball teams in the early 1900s that would have further fueled local interest in card collecting. The Scranton Miners played in the New York-Penn League from 1906-1915. Future Major Leaguers like Earle Combs and Red Ruffing spent time in the Scranton minor league system. It’s easy to imagine young Scranton fans eagerly awaiting the arrival of new baseball cards each season to possibly find players they had seen play for the local Miners team.

The Great Depression of the 1930s hit Scranton and the surrounding Wyoming Valley hard. Baseball and the affordable pastime of collecting cards provided a much needed diversion for families during difficult economic times. Production of baseball cards continued through the 1930s with Goudey, Play Ball, and other companies issuing sets that are now highly valuable. Scranton’s five-and-dime stores stocked wax packs of these Depression era cards, allowing kids a chance to pull their favorite MLB stars for just a few pennies.

During World War II, cardboard and other resources were diverted to the war effort, leading to a lull in baseball card production from 1942-1945. Interest was rekindled after the war ended. In the postwar 1940s-1950s, Bowman and Topps emerged as the dominant card manufacturers. Their colorful vintage sets from this era featuring players like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays are considered some of the most attractive designs ever. Card shops in Scranton sold wax packs and boxes of these classic postwar issues that kids traded with vigor on street corners and in local parks.

Topps secured the exclusive license to produce MLB cards in 1956 and has maintained that monopoly ever since. Their post-war designs through the 1960s are among the most iconic of the hobby. Young Scrantonians in the 1950s and 60s spent hot summer days riding their bikes to neighborhood stores, hoping to find unopened boxes of the new Topps releases under the counter. The colorful cards from this era triggered baseball fever that lasted deep into the fall.

Scranton was also home to future MLB stars during this golden age of card collecting. Local heroes like Dick Scott, who played for the Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics and Boston Red Sox in the 1950s, surely inspired Scranton youth to chase down his rookie cards. Future Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn played briefly for the Scranton Miners in 1946 before embarking on his stellar big league career. Ashburn’s early minor league cards remain highly sought after by Scranton-area collectors today.

The 1970s saw an explosion of new baseball card manufacturers competing with Topps. Fleer, Donruss and others entered the lucrative market. Scranton card shops stocked wax boxes and racks from all the new brands, allowing collectors to assemble complete sets or trade for needed cards. Scrantonians in the 1970s also enjoyed reading the back of cards for stats and biographies of their heroes, fueling their baseball passion. The competition led to innovation, including the first “star cards” featuring short prints of superstars like Reggie Jackson that collectors scrambled to find.

Scranton’s Memorial Stadium hosted the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons franchise from 1989-2008. The Red Barons affiliation with various MLB clubs like the Phillies, Dodgers, and Yankees brought future big leaguers to Northeastern Pennsylvania each season. Scranton-area card shops and shows capitalized on this local connection by stocking Red Barons team sets, prospect cards, and autograph cards for fans to add to their collections.

Today, baseball card collecting remains a popular hobby for Scrantonians of all ages. Local shops like The Card Shoppe and Scranton Sports Cards sell new releases, supplies, and vintage inventory that transports collectors back to baseball’s golden age. Scranton’s vibrant card collecting community also comes together for large annual card shows that draw hundreds of eager vendors and shoppers from across the region. While the players and designs may change, the allure of baseball cards has connected Scranton to America’s pastime for over a century through affordable nostalgia and the thrill of the chase. Baseball cards remain an integral part of the city’s sports heritage and a window into the game’s rich history.

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TOPPS BASEBALL CARDS SCRANTON PA

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Scranton, Pennsylvania has a long history with Topps baseball cards that goes back to the company’s early beginnings in the 1950s. At the time, Topps was producing their iconic collectible cards out of Brooklyn, New York and wanted to establish additional manufacturing facilities to keep up with growing demand. In 1953, they opened a new factory in Scranton which would play an important role in mass producing baseball cards for decades to come.

The choice of Scranton made sense for several reasons. It was within driving distance of the Topps Brooklyn headquarters to allow for close oversight of the new plant. Real estate and labor costs were also lower in Northeast Pennsylvania compared to New York City at the time. Scranton also had skilled workers familiar with printing and packaging processes from the local steel, coal and railroad industries that once thrived in the region. Topps was able to hire experienced laborers and easily ramp up production.

Initially, the Scranton factory produced subsets of Topps baseball card releases, making sure each set had all players, managers, and teams. It eventually took on a larger share of production to help Topps meet booming demand. In the 1950s, collecting baseball cards had exploded in popularity among America’s youth. By opening the Scranton plant, Topps gained the capacity needed to print tens and eventually hundreds of millions of cards annually. The facility specialized in the gum and cellophane packaging phase of production.

Through the 1950s and 1960s, Topps emerged as the dominant brand in the baseball card market largely due to the efficient mass production enabled by their Scranton factory. Famously, the company was even able to outmaneuver rivals like Bowman and compete effectively on a national level. During this golden age of baseball cards in America, the Scranton employees played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in printing and packing cards that ended up in the hands of collectors across the country.

Into the 1970s and 1980s, the Scranton Topps factory remained a consistent presence, producing cards year after year alongside the company’s other facilities. By this time, technology and techniques had advanced significantly. Older letterpress printing was replaced by modern offset lithography allowing for faster runs with photo-realistic coloring. Automated equipment also took over more packaging tasks previously done by hand. But the basic functions of printing, inserting cards into wax packs, sealing with gum or stickers, and boxing product remained the same.

By the 1990s, the collectibles bubble of the late 80s had burst and interest in sports cards waned industry-wide. In response, Topps scaled back production and eventually closed some plants. The Scranton location continued operating for most subsequent releases. The city still provided Topps with a capable, experienced workforce even as competition increased from new publishers like Upper Deck entering the market. Its northeastern location was also still advantageous for distributing product to the Eastern Seaboard population centers.

In 2002, the Scranton factory faced an uncertain future as Topps underwent restructuring under new ownership. There was real risk of closure like other facilities had seen. Local and state politicians rallied behind efforts to keep the plant open, recognizing it as an important manufacturing employer for half a century. An agreement was reached allowing Topps Scranton to continue producing baseball cards, albeit at a smaller scale aligned with the current market. This saved over 100 jobs in the Scranton area.

Today, the Topps factory in Scranton soldiered on and still carries out a portion of production for the company’s annual sports card releases. Now semi-automated with fewer employees, it remains a notable outlier as one of the few surviving sports card manufacturing plants in America. Each spring it contributes to packing and boxing new baseball sets. In this way, Scranton maintains its legacy of supporting Topps’ cardboard classics since the early days of their popularity’s meteoric rise. Even amidst wider industry contraction, this connection has lasted over 65 years so far through booms, busts, and ownership changes. For northeast Pennsylvania, the Topps baseball card factory in Scranton stands as a local institution deeply tied to the region’s economic and cultural history.