The first baseball card was made in the 1860s by Peck & Snyder, a New York based company. From there, baseball cards gained popularity and survived many different eras. Because of this, the way that they were marketed varied. For example, in the 1880’s, they were sold in packs of cigarettes. This become a popular way to sell baseball cards, and in 1909, the T206 set (a set of over 520 cards), were hidden in cigarette packs all over the country. By the end of World War 1, however, it was prohibited to sell tobacco to children. Since children were a large portion of the buyers, this law impacted their business.
The law, as well as the belief that it didn’t give baseball cards a good image to be sold with tobacco, caused businesses to think of other ways to sell baseball cards. In the 1930’s, there were two companies that competed with each selling baseball cards PA with gum. These two companies were the Fleer Company and the Goudey Gum Company. The Fleer Company had a reputation of selling baseball cards PA that were cheap and flimsy. The Goudey Gum Company, on the other hand, were known for being of higher quality. In fact, the collection sold by the Goudey Gum Company is considered some of the more valuable cards ever produced. Although they had some success, they went out of business in 1962.
The Topps Baseball Cards were created in 1951, but they sold their cards with taffy. This idea failed, because the cards affected the flavor of the taffy. They then changed to gum and sold their baseball cards for the many decades. After a while, collectors started to complain that the gum stained their baseball cards. As a result, baseball cards were sold alone, without any gum.
As a collector, it’s important for you to know how selling baseball cards began. This is just an introduction to the marketing side of selling baseball cards PA, but these cards have a rich history.
