The history of baseball cards in Shreveport, Louisiana stretches back over a century. Like many other American cities, the hobby of collecting baseball cards first took root in Shreveport in the late 1800s as the national pastime of baseball grew in popularity. Some of the earliest baseball cards produced in the late 19th century featured stars like Cap Anson, Pud Galvin, and Bug Holliday. While these vintage cards are now extremely rare, they helped spark a lifelong passion for the sport and its players for many Shreveport residents.
In the early 20th century, tobacco companies like American Tobacco Company and Goodwin & Company began inserting baseball cards as incentives inside cigarette packs and chewing tobacco tins. These tobacco era cards from the 1910s-1930s featured the biggest stars of the era like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson. Stores in Shreveport sold these tobacco products and the young baseball fans of Shreveport eagerly collected and traded these early mass-produced cards. The cards not only captured the players’ images, but also stoked interest in following the major league teams and understanding baseball statistics in more depth.
By the late 1930s, the hobby of baseball card collecting was in full swing among Shreveport’s youth. The 1936 and 1937 Goudey Gum Company sets became especially coveted by local collectors. Featuring colorful photographic images on a thicker cardboard stock, the Goudey sets represented a step forward in baseball card design. Kids would ride their bicycles to neighborhood stores, hoping to find packs containing stars like Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, or Dizzy Dean. Meanwhile, the older collectors in Shreveport sought out the rarer tobacco era cards through trades and the classified sections of sports magazines.
During World War II, the supply of baseball cards was reduced as production shifted to support the war effort. The hobby remained strong in Shreveport through trading and collecting the existing vintage stock. In the post-war 1940s-1950s, the Bowman Gum Company and Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. dominated the baseball card market. Their colorful, photo-centric sets like 1951 Bowman and 1952 Topps became instant classics. Shreveport’s card shops did a booming business selling these new sets and the city’s youth formed baseball card clubs and organized trading events. Stars of the day like Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial, and Mickey Mantle became the new heroes immortalized on cardboard.
The 1960s represented the golden age of baseball cards in Shreveport. Topps released highly innovative and visually striking sets annually that captured the styles and fashions of the decade. Local shops like Bob’s Sport Cards and Aces Hobby Shop became hangouts for collectors. Topps rookies of future Hall of Famers like Tom Seaver, Johnny Bench, and Rod Carew in the 1967 set were highly sought after by Shreveport collectors. Meanwhile, the city’s older collectors pursued complete runs of the 1950s Topps issues, which had developed a nostalgic cachet.
In the 1970s, the population boom in Shreveport translated to an explosion in the number of young collectors pursuing stars of the era like Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, and Nolan Ryan in the annual Topps issues. Competition emerged as rival card makers like Fleer and Donruss entered the market. This led to innovative parallel sets that offered collectors more cardboard but also made complete sets more difficult. Still, Shreveport’s card shops thrived off the increased collecting activity. The city also gained its first card show in 1975 which further galvanized the local hobby community.
The 1980s represented the peak of modern baseball card collecting in Shreveport. With over 10 different card manufacturers all offering multiple sets annually, the selection and chase for rookie cards and stars was unprecedented. Local shops struggled to keep popular sets like 1987 Topps, 1987 Fleer, and 1989 Upper Deck in stock. Meanwhile, Shreveport hosted its first major card convention that drew collectors from across the South. Stars of the decade like Ozzie Smith, Kirby Puckett, and Roger Clemens achieved a superstar status rivaling the sports legends of the past through their cardboard depictions.
In the 1990s, the baseball card market in Shreveport entered a period of uncertainty. Overproduction led to a speculative bubble that burst in the early 1990s, leaving some shops and collectors holding worthless inventory. This led card companies to consolidate, with Upper Deck and Topps emerging as the only surviving major manufacturers by decade’s end. Still, stars of the 1990s like Ken Griffey Jr, Cal Ripken Jr, and Greg Maddux found new generations of young Shreveport collectors pursuing their rookie cards. Meanwhile, the vintage market boomed as older collectors sought complete 1950s-1970s sets to replace collections sold off in the prior decade’s crash.
The 2000s brought the rise of direct Internet sales that challenged the traditional brick and mortar card shops in Shreveport. Some local favorites like A Minor League Hobby adapted by expanding their inventory and hosting popular card shows. Meanwhile, the vintage boom of the 1990s continued unabated as complete 1950s-1980s sets reached all-time high prices at auction. Young collectors in Shreveport also embraced modern parallels and memorabilia cards featuring stars like Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, and Clayton Kershaw alongside their traditional cardboard.
Today, while the physical baseball card shops have largely disappeared from Shreveport, the hobby remains as strong as ever. Local collectors stay connected through online forums, social media groups, and the occasional card show. Young collectors embrace today’s stars like Mike Trout, Christian Yelich and Ronald Acuña Jr, while older collectors pursue vintage sets and stars from their childhoods. Whether collecting online or at shows, Shreveport’s dedicated baseball card fans ensure the over century old tradition will continue to thrive for many years to come. The city’s love affair with America’s pastime remains as immortalized in cardboard as the players depicted upon it.