The Passion Of Baseball Card Collecting

Baseball card collecting has been around since thebaseball cards ever produced. The cards included
1800's, and millions of young and old enthusiastspictures of famous baseball stars like: Babe Ruth,
collect baseball cards. Serious involvement shownLou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx. Gum Inc produced
by some enthusiasts who invest a lot of moneycards that include the photo and stats of such
and some even pursue a career in baseball cards.greats as Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio.
Baseball cards are sold for as little as 10 centsBowman Gum Co. started the baseball card
while a few cards are traded for as much asindustry as it currently is. Bowman sold baseball
hundreds of thousands of dollars.cards with a stick of bubble gum. Topps Chewing
Baseball became an increasingly popular sport inGum company joined the process in the 1950's,
the USA after the Civil War. In those days whenand the 1952 Topps # 311 Mickey Mantle is one
there were no modern printing techniques, a typeof their most expensive cards.
of baseball card was made out of photos ofAt present, other than Topps companies like
baseball players or teams pasted on a small pieceFleer, Donruss/Playoff, and Upper Deck are
of square cardboard.producing baseball cards. Every year baseball
Peck & Snyder, a sporting good company, firstcards hit the market featuring the top
printed baseball cards in the late 1860's. Theseperformers. A rookie card is a first card of a
baseball cards carried advertisements of theirplayer and generally costs more than other cards
products and were given away like flyers forof the same player. However, the tobacco
free. The popular hobby of the 1870s and 1880sbaseball cards are still considered the best of all
was to collect trade cards that had variousbaseball cards. In addition, the Honus Wagner card
themes including baseball and pasting those into ais considered the Mona Lisa of baseball cards. A
scrapbook.Honus Wagner card that was previously owned
The mass production of baseball cards started inby Wayne Gretzky was auctioned off on eBay
the 1880's. Goodwin & Co. a tobacco company infor $1.27 million.
New York produced these cards as cigaretteWhen the number of cards collected really grows
pack stiffeners and to boost sales, as thisbig, it will not be easy to manage them. Retrieving
became popular, others joined the competition.cards at will and replacing them would require the
Allen & Ginter, Buchner & Co., Mayo and Co. andproficiency of a library science degree holder. To
Kimball produced quality baseball cards andsolve this problem there is software available that
inserted them into the cigarette packs.will manage baseball card collections efficiently.
After a brief lull, baseball cards again became aThere is a variety of software to choose from
rage from the early 1900's. In fact, the perioddepending on the complexity of the collection
from 1909-1915 is regarded as the golden perioddetails that needs to be stored. One program that
in baseball card collecting. T206 Honus Wagner isstand's out is ' Baseball Card Collector Professional
one of the most famous cards that belonged to', it is made for any baseball card collector, from
this era. The T206 Honus Wagner card isnovices to professionals, and it cost under $15. '
currently valued at around $500,000 and thereBaseball Card Collector Professional ' may be
are only 50 of them available in good condition.downloaded for free at this website address:
Some of the popular players who adorn theBy Robert W. Benjamin
earlier cards include Ty Cobb, Shoeless JoeCopyright 2006
Jackson, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, CyYou may publish this article in your ezine,
Young, Honus Wagner and Napolean Lajoie.newsletter or on your web site as long as it is
Slowly tobacco slipped away from the baseballreprinted in its entirety and without modification
card scenario, and candy and gum companies filledexcept for formatting needs or grammar
the void. The cards produced by Goudey Gumcorrections.
Company of Boston are among the most popular