Baseball cards have been around since the late 19th century and early 20th century, collecting them has always been a popular hobby among baseball fans. As the sport grew in popularity throughout the decades, so did the production and release of baseball cards. Here are some of the main types of old baseball cards collectors enjoy finding and adding to their collections today.
1880s-1890s Tobacco Era (Under 1500 cards produced): These wooden nickel and cabinet cards featured individual players and were inserted in tobacco products beginning in the 1880s as a marketing tool. Highly collectible but also highly scarce, these early tobacco-era cards can fetch tens of thousands of dollars in top condition. Examples include cards from companies like Allen & Ginter, Old Judge, and Goodwin & Company.
1900s-1910s Tobacco Era (Several thousand cards produced): Following the success of inserting cards in tobacco products, several additional companies joined in on the baseball card craze around the turn of the century. Brands like Mayo Cut Plug, Sweet Caporal, Fatima, and others released sets featuring individual players in a standardized paper card format. Conditions are rarely high but these early 20th century tobacco era cards can still hold value in many four-figure graded grades.
1910-1913 Tobacco Era (Peak of tobacco inclusion): The tobacco inclusion era of baseball cards was at its peak in terms of frequency during this time span. Goudey, Hassan, Ogden’s, and Phillies released large checklists of 3×5 card sets. Goudey even experimented with color lithography resulting in the highly coveted and valuable Goudey Baseball Commodores set. Top tobacco sets from this time can sell for over $10,000 in high grades.
1913-1920 (Non-sport era): In response to concerns over marketing to children, tobacco companies phased out baseball cards from packs around 1913. This resulted in non-sports themes and unrelated imagery on cards until 1920. Companies made do with unrelated images, resulting in oddball finds that pique collector interest today.
1920-1933 (Gum era begins): The sale of cards as incentives with gum products helped popularize new baseball card sets in the 1920s from companies like American Caramel, Goodies, Goudey, and Play Ball. These early 20th century gum-era cards have enthusiastic followings today. The 1929-1931 Goudey Sport Kings sets are particularly highly valued at thousands per card in top condition.
1933-1940s (Golden age): The 1930s are considered the golden age of baseball cards as production expanded dramatically. New releases from Excello, Diamond Stars, Play Ball, Goudey, and other frequent issuers produced vivid color images. This introduced the modern baseball card format so many iconic cards come from this era. Examples include 1936 Goudey Jimmie Foxx and 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth.
1950s (Post-war boom): Chewing gum companies like Bowman, Topps, and Leaf led a post-war surge of baseball card popularity. Iconic sets included 1951 Bowman, 1952 Topps, and 1953 Topps. Mickey Mantle rookie cards anchor this exciting era for collectors today. Production remained relatively low but demand has pushed values high on coveted vintage 50s cards.
1960s (Topps reigns): Topps gained monopoly rights with 1959 marking their first true “baseball card” design. Remaining the sole issuer through 1969, they captured baseball’s mainstream popularity. Color photos arrived along with stars like Roberto Clemente and Sandy Koufax. The iconic 1960 Topps set rings in the modern baseball card design beloved today.
1970s (Beyond Topps): Competition finally arose to challenge Topps in the 1970s from Fleer and Donruss. This produced legendary errors and rookie cards including a Nolan Ryan mistake card. Star players like Thurman Munson and George Brett debuted. The 1972 Topps Pete Rose rookie signifies the start of high value 70s cardboard.
1980s (Insert boom): The success of inserts like Traded and Update cards inspired subsets and oddball additions to mainstream releases from Topps, Donruss, and Fleer. Prominents Mike Schmidt and Rickey Henderson anchored this era’s young stars. New technology let wilder experiments like 1983 Topps Tiffany shine bright for collectors today.
There you have it – a detailed overview of the different types of old baseball cards collected from the early tobacco era onwards. Each decade brought new designs, companies, and stars that further captivated fans and made collecting cards an integral part of baseball culture and fandom throughout the decades. Tracking down these vintage cards from history remains one of the hobby’s most interesting aspects today.
