I have really grown to appreciate the baseball themed trade cards of the late 1800's.
Love of the Game Auctions last auction had several examples for sale and I wanted to post them all here for reference.
Trade cards were giveaways at general stores, cigar shops, etc. They were advertising pieces about the size of a postcard and many of them were collected during the time. The subject matter could be anything really.
With baseball gaining in popularity it was only natural that some of them featured baseball themed situations on them. Mostly of a comic nature of course. These are a great way to collect some very old baseball items without spending a ton of money.
Here are the examples from the auction for your viewing pleasure.
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| 1878 H804-6 Baseball Comics |
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| 1889 H804-4 Capadura Cigars |
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| 1880s H804-1B Baby Talk |
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| 1880s H804-3 Buffords Trade Cards |
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| 1880s H804-7 Baseball Comics Merchants Gargling Oil |
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| 1880s H804-10 Corner Clefs |
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| 1880s H804-13 Old Style-New Style |
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| 1882 H804-11 Cosack & Company |
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| 1880s H804-19 Horizontal Brownies |
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| 1880s H804-16 Forbes Injury |
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| 1880s H804-15A Red Border |
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| 1880s H804-14 Big White Shoes |
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| 1887 H804-1 Tobin Lithogrphs Baby Talk |
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| 1887 H804-17 Blueish Green |
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| 1887 Tobin Lithographs Black & White |
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| 1888 H804-2 Brownies |
As you can see there are several different types of these trade cards to collect. I'm sure there are many more than the ones I've pictured here as well. To think that these were giveaways like flyers of today and they survived all these years to still be collected now is amazing. How many were just tossed in the trash?
Let me know what you think of these trade cards. Do you like them, appreciate them for what they are, or do you not really care for them at all?
Enjoy the hobby all...its a great one.
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