Chris Stufflestreet has written a colorful history of baseball cards, beginning with the Old Judge and other cards from the 1800's, then through the early tobacco and candy issues, gum companies and the Topps and Bowman war.
Curator of Collections, Card Cyber Museum
Baseball was developed from the English sports of cricket and rounders. According to legend, a West Point cadet named Abner Doubleday "invented" the sport around 1839 in Cooperstown, New York. We do know that the first organized baseball game was played in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1847 and that the sport began to flourish during the U.S. Civil War when Union soldiers played baseball during their encampments. After the war ended in 1865, many of the soldiers took the game home with them.
Every so often I like to dig out my old collection of hockey cards and take a look at what I spent so much time doing as a youngster.
I haven't seriously collected hockey cards since 1991, but I will occasionally pick up a few when something catches my eye.
It is during these "dog days of summer" when I long for that elusive 'hockey fix' that I find myself rummaging through the boxes under my stairs looking for a long-forgotten collectible.
Counterfeit baseball cards have been around for decades, but with prices for vintage material on sometimes lofty ground, it's best to understand what's real and what isn't before you make a major purchase.
Baseball cards have been manufactured since the 1800's and have touched the hearts of millions of collecting enthusiasts young and old.
Pull together tips and pointers on putting together a quality rookie card collection.
Where do you start while staring into the eyes of countless manufacturing brand options at your local card store?
