The town of Smithfield in Rhode Island has a long history with baseball cards dating back to the late 19th century. Some of the earliest baseball cards produced in America came from companies located right in Smithfield. While the bigger card manufacturers like Topps, Fleer and Upper Deck are more well known nationwide, Smithfield played a key role in the early development of this beloved hobby.

One of the first baseball card producers to call Smithfield home was The Smith Brothers Company, founded in 1882. Known primarily for their tobacco products, The Smith Brothers saw an opportunity to include baseball cards as an added bonus in their cigarette and chewing tobacco packages starting in 1888. Their cards featured individual players from major league teams and helped drive sales of their tobacco goods, especially among young baseball fans. The simple design of the early Smith Brothers cards featured a black and white image of the player on one side with their name and stats on the reverse.

Through the 1890s and into the early 20th century, The Smith Brothers Company was one of the dominant producers of baseball cards available. They had deals in place with many major league clubs to use official team photos on their cards. This helped build excitement for the upcoming season among fans eager to collect and trade the new cards each year. The Smith Brothers factory in Smithfield employed dozens of local residents who worked on the card production lines, cutting, printing and packaging them to be shipped nationwide.

Another early baseball card innovator from Smithfield was The W.D. & H.O. Wills Tobacco Company, formed in 1902. Like their competitor The Smith Brothers, Wills included baseball cards as incentives in their tobacco products sold across New England and beyond. Their cards from the early 1900s are considered some of the most collectible and valuable from that era. Wills had deals in place with the Boston Braves, Boston Red Sox and other local teams to use their photos on cards. They also employed creative card designs that featured colorful team logos and player stats on the front. Both companies helped turn Smithfield into a hotbed for the emerging baseball card collecting craze of the time.

As the popularity of baseball grew exponentially in the first decades of the 20th century, so too did the demand for baseball cards from fans. This created an opening for smaller regional card producers to try and compete with the big names of The Smith Brothers and Wills Tobacco. One such company was Smithfield Baseball Card Co., formed in 1920 by local businessman George Tillinghast. His cards featured a variety of major and minor league players on simple white stock card designs. While they didn’t have the large distribution networks of bigger competitors, Smithfield Baseball Card Co. found success selling directly to local card collectors, hobby shops and tobacco stores in Rhode Island.

Tillinghast’s company helped keep Smithfield at the forefront of the growing baseball card industry during the 1920s. The stock market crash of 1929 had major ramifications for all the smaller regional producers. Both Wills Tobacco and Smithfield Baseball Card Co. went out of business in the early 1930s as consumers cut back on discretionary spending. This opened the door for larger national companies to take control. Goudey Gum Company based their production in Duryea, Pennsylvania and released the iconic 1933 Goudey Baseball Card set featuring impressive color photos on the fronts.

While Smithfield was no longer a major player in card manufacturing, the area’s passion for collecting never faded. Local hobby shops like Smithfield Sports Cards, opened in 1950, helped fuel the post-World War 2 baseball card boom. Owners Curly Williams and his son Ron became famous in collector circles for discovering rare vintage cards in their stores. In the late 1980s, Smithfield resident Rob Lifson had one of the largest baseball card collections in the world which he showed off in displays at card shows across New England. His collection featured many rare Smith Brothers and Wills Tobacco cards from Smithfield’s early days in the industry.

Even as baseball cards became a multibillion-dollar business dominated by companies like Topps, Fleer and Upper Deck, Smithfield’s roots in the hobby have not been forgotten. Local history museums like Smith-Appleby House have exhibits dedicated to the pioneering Smith Brothers and Wills Tobacco card producers. In 2009, the town celebrated the 120th anniversary of the first Smith Brothers cards with a weekend festival featuring card appraisals and talks from memorabilia experts. While the factories have long since closed, the legacy of Smithfield’s place in early baseball card history lives on for collectors worldwide. The small Rhode Island town played a major role in the development of America’s favorite sports collecting pastime.