About.com: Let's Review Their Baseball Card Timeline

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Posted By: bruce Dorskind

Baseball Card Timeline

Pre-World War II Era

1868: A New York sporting goods store called Peck and Snyder creates what most historians consider to be the first set of baseball cards. Images of baseball players were featured on the fronts of the cards, while advertisements for the company’s baseball equipment made up the backs.

1886: Another New York company - Goodwin and Co. - kicks off the era of tobacco companies by producing a baseball set distributed as pack liners with cigarettes.

1903: The E107 Breisch Williams set is produced, marking the first significant release of the 20th Century.

1909: The American Tobacco Company - a conglomerate that swallowed up many smaller companies that once printed baseball cards - creates the T206 White Border Set, one of the most famous sets of all time. The short printed Honus Wagner card is the grandfather of all valuable cards.

1914: Cracker Jack produces the first of two sets, notable for their inclusion of players from the Federal League.

1933: Boston temporarily becomes the center of the baseball card world, with Goudey Gum Co., George C. Miller Co. and Delong all producing sets.

1939: Gum Inc. - the precursor of Bowman - prints its first Play Ball sets, which feature Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio.
Post-World War II Era

1948: With the war over, Bowman Gum and the Leaf Candy Company each create baseball card sets.

1952: Topps prints its first baseball set, which includes the Mickey Mantle rookie card, one of the most famous cards of all time.

1956: The purchase of Bowman by Topps makes Topps the only national manufacturer of baseball cards.

1957: Topps changes the dimensions of its cards to 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches, the same size used by nearly every sports card product today.

1963: Fleer attempts to get around Topps’ exclusive rights to produce baseball cards sold with gum by creating a set featuring 66 players and sold with cookies. Legal action by Topps forces Fleer to abandon the product after just one year.

1976: The TCMA company produces its 630-card SSPC set, selling it by mail and without full baseball licensing. It too, lasts only one season before Topps files suit to have it stopped.

1980: A court ruling states that Topps’ exclusive rights apply only to baseball cards sold with gum, opening the door for competitors to finally get back in the game.