The first known baseball card was created in 1868 by a New York sporting goods store. The name of that store was Peck & Snyder. The cards, which measured 3 1/4 x 4 1/2", were used as a form of advertising for the stores products on the back side with the pictures of various baseball players on the front. In 1886 another New York company used a set of baseball cards as an insert liner for packs of cigarettes.

 

From a sporting goods store in New York City to tobacco companies, baseball cards were used to advertise and as an enticement to buy products. Companies such as Cracker Jacks, who in 1914 included 2 sets of cards, were the first to include players from the Federal League. The Goudey Gum Co. of Boston used sets of cards to increase their sales in gum. The popularity of baseball cards grew as time went by. Not only young people but people of all ages, mostly male, used baseball cards for trading to obtain their favorite player or to complete a set of a particular team.

 

In 1952 a company by the name of Topps printed its first set of baseball cards. Interesting to note that the now famous Mickey Mantle rookie card was part of that initial set of cards. It was in 1956 that Topps purchased the Bowman Gum Co. which made them the only national card company in the country. Shortly after, the company changed the dimensions of the baseball cards to 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches, the same size used today.

 

The Topps company had the exclusive rights to print and produce baseball cards for years. There were several companies that attempted to print bulk packaging of baseball cards but Topps sued these companies and won in court, stopping these companies from what they felt was an infringement on their exclusive business. In 1980 a court ruled against Topps stating that the company's exclusive rights was only in the selling of cards with their gum. This opened the door for other companies to print and distribute whole sets of cards, packaging them differently.

 

Collecting baseball cards, whether as a hobby or as a business, is a national past time for many sport enthusiasts. Celebrate this great sport and visit Mall4Men  where you can find your favorite professional baseball team sports watch. These MLB watches  have officially licensed team logos, are of high quality and sold at reasonable prices. Other major league sport watches as well as college and university watches with logos are also available.