Summary
The podcast episode discusses the history and evolution of baseball card collecting, beginning with the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings card as a possible progenitor of the baseball card. The hosts note that tobacco companies became involved in the 1880s by including cardboard cards in cigarette packs. The Old Judge cigarette company introduced baseball players on their cards in 1886, which was considered a milestone because it was a random card that came as an extra in cigarette packs. Other random things were also printed on these cards, such as movie stars, birds, and trains. The podcast episode goes on to discuss the evolution of baseball card collecting from the early 1900s to the modern era.
The period between 1900 and World War I is considered the Golden Era of baseball card collecting, with various companies producing baseball cards, including Nabisco's baseball cards biscuit sets. During this time, companies started packaging baseball cards with candy instead of cigarettes to appeal to children. After World War II, Bowman and Tops became prominent in the baseball card industry, with Tops eventually gaining a monopoly on baseball cards by signing exclusive contracts with individual players. The podcast also discusses the legal precedent set by a 1953 baseball card case, which established that individuals own their likeness and can profit from it.
The hosts also discuss the current state of baseball card collecting, including the high value of rookie cards, the rise of counterfeit cards, and the role of authenticators in verifying the authenticity of cards. They mention the rarity and value of errors and mistakes in collectible trading markets. The podcast episode concludes by lamenting the fact that it's now difficult to find baseball cards in stores, and that buying them has become a different experience than it was in the past. The hosts also receive a listener email correcting their previous discussion of Russian succession in the Amber Room area and make a correction regarding the term "proxy war" in reference to the conflict between NATO and Russia in Ukraine.
