Trading Card History

The history of trading cards is a long and interesting one. Major companies, like Fleer and Topps, have been at the forefront of card manufacturing for several decades. And the funny thing is that most trading card companies didn’t start in the business of selling cards but worked on selling various products. The trading cards were a mere gimmick to sell bubble gum or popcorn or tobacco. What started as an advertising scheme suddenly sparked America’s solid interests in trading card collecting. The history of trading cards includes more than one company, and more than one type of card.

Topps—a giant trading card company today—wanted to sell bubble gum more than trading cards. In fact, they used a promotion at the cash register to trade in your pennies for pieces of the chewing gum—they usually sold for one cent each. Hardly a way to pull a profit, you might say. Shortly after the war, Topps began to sell comic strips wrapped around their Bazooka Bubble Gum. People, kids mainly, could collect the comics and after reaching certain points could send them in for nifty prizes.

Topps eventually started selling gum with trading cards included. The first cards included Hopalong Cassidy and All-American football cards. In the early 1950s, sports cards started including stats, logos and pictures of the players. Americana card collecting was thus born, and with stars like Mickey Mantle and Andy Pafko, it was impossible not to get involved. Some cards were sold in conjunction with chewing tobacco and cigarettes—today we know better. People wanted more cards, not more foodstuff.

Not all trading cards have to be sports icons or heroes. Topps is but one manufacturer who has created trading card images of Elvis, the Kennedys, Michael Jackson, Star Wars and even the Beetles. If there were no vital stats available for these pop culture icons, then interesting tidbits, fun facts, interesting stories, histories and hobbies were printed on the back. Kids, teens, adults and older folks alike could collect cards and learn something about their favorite hero or celebrity. Just like then, today we have trading cards with superheroes, celebrities, heroes, stars and even cartoons.

Trading cards, however, didn’t used to be cards at all. The first cards printed around the middle of the 1880s were printed on strips of cloth. You could find the names of baseball players written elegantly on them. After the turn of the century to before the 1940s, baseball cards were printed on cardboard, though sizes and grade were never uniform. As companies tinkered with the best way to produce these cards, rare and rarer cards were produced.

Because of a lack of consistent card making methods, some cards today are worth several hundred thousand dollars, as they are impossible to find and very special to own. It was right before 1940 that cards were (starting to be) sold in their own right, not as a gimmick. Cards in mint condition (THE perfect card with no bends or imperfections due to wear) often sell for more than cards that have not been properly cared for. There are many companies today selling trading cards, from sports heroes to movie icons to cards used for playing games. Trading cards have come a long way and the passion for collecting only intensifies from year to year.