Baseball card

A baseball card is a small card printed on heavy paper stock, featuring one or more baseball players. The typical format for a card is to have an image of a player on the front, with information such as statistics on the back. While baseball cards may be of any size, the standard size in the industry is 2-½ inches by 3-½ inches (on most cards, the image is oriented vertically so that 2-½ inches would be the width, and 3-½ inches the height).

Early history

With the development of photography, baseball teams began to pose for group and individual pictures, much like members of other clubs and associations. Some of these photographs were printed onto small cards similar to modern wallet photos. As baseball increased in popularity and became an openly professional sport during the late 1860s, a sporting goods store named Peck and Snyder began producing trade cards featuring baseball teams. Peck and Snyder sold baseball equipment, and the cards were a natural advertising vehicle. The Peck and Snyder cards are sometimes considered the first baseball cards.

Related Topics:
Photography - Team - Professional - Trade card - Advertising

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Typically, a trade card featured an image on one side and information advertising the business on the other. Trade cards featuring baseball players were used by a variety of businesses, even if the products being advertised had no connection with baseball. Advances in color printing increased the possible appeal of the cards. As a result, different types of cards might use photographs, either in black-and-white or sepia, or color artwork, which might or might not be based on photographs.

Related Topics:
Black-and-white - Sepia

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Although the function of trade cards had much in common with business cards, the format of baseball trade cards also often resembled that of playing cards. Some early baseball cards could be used as part of a game, which might be either a conventional card game or a simulated baseball game. While most modern cards are purely collectibles, the concept of cards that allow for a game format still recurs periodically.

Related Topics:
Business card - Playing card - Game - Card game - Simulated - Collectible

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