| Learn the history of baseball cards and why it's a | | | | this became popular, others joined the |
| hobby for both the professional and the amateur | | | | competition. Allen & Ginter, Buchner & |
| Baseball card collecting has been around since the | | | | Co., Mayo and Co. and Kimball produced quality |
| 1800's, and millions of young and old enthusiasts | | | | baseball cards and inserted them into the |
| collect baseball cards. Serious involvement shown | | | | cigarette packs. After a brief lull, baseball cards |
| by some enthusiasts who invest a lot of money | | | | again became a rage from the early 1900's. In |
| and some even pursue a career in baseball cards. | | | | fact, the period from 1909-1915 is regarded as |
| Baseball cards are sold for as little as 10 cents | | | | the golden period in baseball card collecting. T206 |
| while a few cards are traded for as much as | | | | Honus Wagner is one of the most famous cards |
| hundreds of thousands of dollars. Baseball became | | | | that belonged to this era. The T206 Honus |
| an increasingly popular sport in the USA after the | | | | Wagner card is currently valued at around |
| Civil War. In those days when there were no | | | | $500,000 and there are only 50 of them available |
| modern printing techniques, a type of baseball | | | | in good condition. Some of the popular players |
| card was made out of photos of baseball players | | | | who adorn the earlier cards include Ty Cobb, |
| or teams pasted on a small piece of square | | | | Shoeless Joe Jackson, Walter Johnson, Christy |
| cardboard. Peck & Snyder, a sporting good | | | | Mathewson, Cy Young, Honus Wagner and |
| company, first printed baseball cards in the late | | | | Napolean Lajoie. |
| 1860's. These baseball cards carried | | | | Slowly tobacco slipped away from the baseball |
| advertisements of their products and were given | | | | card scenario, and candy and gum companies filled |
| away like flyers for free. The popular hobby of | | | | the void. The cards produced by Goudey Gum |
| the 1870's and 1880's was to collect trade cards | | | | Company of Boston are among the most popular |
| that had various themes including baseball and | | | | baseball cards ever produced. The cards included |
| pasting those into a scrapbook. | | | | pictures of famous baseball stars like: Babe Ruth, |
| The mass production of baseball cards started in | | | | Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx. Gum Inc produced |
| the 1880's. Goodwin & Co. a tobacco | | | | cards that include the photo and stats of such |
| company in New York produced these cards as | | | | greats as Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. |
| cigarette pack stiffeners and to boost sales, as | | | | |