The iconic combination of Topps baseball cards and stick of gum has been a tradition for generations of baseball fans since the late 1950s. The addition of gum to baseball cards transformed the collecting hobby and helped Topps dominate the baseball card market for decades.
In the early 20th century, baseball cards were included primarily as promotional inserts in products like tobacco. In the post-World War II era, the market was wide open for another company to approach the lucrative baseball card business in a new innovative way. Brothers Woody and Lenny Klein, along with their financial backer William Sentner, decided to start the Topps Chewing Gum Company in 1938.
Initially, Topps focused solely on the production of chewing gum. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the company began experimenting with including collectible baseball cards as an incentive to purchase packs of gum. In 1951, Topps released its first complete set of cards that came individually wrapped with a stick of gum. The cards and gum were still packaged separately within the wax paper wrapping at that time.
The following year in 1952, Topps had a breakthrough idea – bundling each individual baseball card securely inside the gum wrapper itself. This pioneering packaging method meant the card and gum were connected, which both protected the card from damage and linked the collecting experience directly to the purchase and enjoyment of chewing gum.
For children of the 1950s, the allure of opening a fresh pack of Topps cards and rummaging to see which baseball stars they received while chewing a stick of banana-flavored bubble gum was a sensation like no other. The combination was an immediate success and helped Topps develop into a pop culture phenomenon. Within a few short years, Topps had cornered over 90% of the baseball card market.
In 1959, Topps further cemented their dominance with the release of the iconic design that became synonymous with the brand for decades. Featuring a vertical photo on a white background and red border, these ’59 Topps cards featuring legends like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron are still among the most coveted and valuable to collectors today. Topps also expanded beyond its initial focus on chewing gum to produce other confectionaries like Bazooka bubble gum by the late 1950s.
Arguably no other marketing gimmick in the history of sports cards has been as effective and enduring as Topps’ inspired pairing of sticky sweets with flecks of cardboard. By ensuring young collectors had a fun tactile experience while opening packs, Topps helped turn baseball cards from a niche collectible into a mass popular pursuit. For the next 30 years, virtually every kid in America collected and traded Topps cards included in their gum and candy packs.
During the 1970s and 80s, even as more competitors like Fleer and Donruss entered the marketplace, Topps’ signature gum-and-card combo kept them leading the industry. Some of their most iconic uniforms and logos from this era like the 1971/72 design remain industry standards today. They also expanded offerings with sets highlighting other sports. Meanwhile, television deals and licensing agreements helped make stars on Topps cards true pop icons to multiple generations.
As the sports card boom of the late 80s/early 90s took hold, challenges emerged. With collectors now focused more on investment potential than childhood fun, the once dominant bundle of cards and gum began losing some relevance. Still, Topps found ways to adapt such as including premium parallel versions of cards to drive new demand. They also took advantage of the increased collector scales by expanding production runs into the millions of some sets.
Through the 1990s and 2000s, while the sports card market contracted, Topps’ business became more concentrated on its gum, confection, and entertainment licensing divisions. But the nostalgia and collecting aura of those classic vintage Topps packs with gum never diminished. Today, sealed wax boxes from the 1950s-1980s routinely fetch thousands of dollars at auction. Meanwhile, individually many of those iconic cards remain the most collectible and sought after in the entire hobby.
In recent years, Topps has worked to rebuild its sportscard presence with initiatives like special anniversary sets and greater availability of products at mainstream retailers. Their popular online digital platforms are also bringing card collecting into the digital age. The true magic of Topps will always be rooted in those simple yet brilliant wax-wrapped packages of sticky bubble gum that started it all – each one containing the chance to pull a piece of baseball history. For generations of fans and collectors, nothing will ever replace the thrill and childhood joy awakened by rummaging through a fresh pack of classic Topps cards.
