Posted By:
nbrazil"Images of baseball players were put on postcards to sell the postcard. Images of baseball players were inserted into cigarette packs to sell cigarettes. Images of baseball players were put on Boston Garter packaging to sell garters"
True. But, what did people do when they got those cards from the cigarettes? It's different from what people were supposed to do when they bought a postcard with ty cobb on it. In the latter case, they were supposed to write on the back of it and send it someone they know. In the former case, it was more for a collectible purpose.
I see your point. But, my point is at looking at a strict definition of a baseball card....it's only functional use is of being collectible. A Ty cobb postcard is collectible...but, it's main intention is for the use of sending someone a message.