All About Trading Cards

The history of trading cards

Although baseball cards are usually the first type of card that comes to mind when you think of trading cards, baseball and other sports cards only make up a fraction of the world of collectable cards. There are antique trading cards from the 19th century, pop-culture trading cards based from TV shows and comic books, and exciting collectible game cards.

The collecting of cards first began in the United States and England in the 1860s, when a few printers that used lithographic technology began to produce and sell cards. Scrap booking was quite popular at the time, and the colorful collectible cards were ideally suited for this Victorian pastime.

The most well-known and most influential of the early card printers was the American printer, Louis Prang. His business flourished during the early days of the U.S. Civil War, when he began selling patriotic prints. In 1863, Prang printed a series of cards featuring American birds, which were designed to be mounted in a special album that he sold.

The Dawn of an American pastime

The popularity of trading cards gradually increased throughout the following century, with tobacco cards and baseball cards setting the most trends. Cigarette companies would print pictures on the cardboard inserts of cigarette packs, each one part of a larger set of 20 or more. The idea was to inspire people to collect the entire set, which would require purchasing more packs of cigarettes.

It was in during the 1930s that chewing gum companies first began offering baseball cards in packs. Goudy Gum of Boston made a 239 card series called Big League Gum in 1933. These years also ushered in a period of sports and non-sports cards being offered as premiums on diverse products—from candy to home furnishings—as well cards purchased individually either from vending machines, or over-the-counter at shops.

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