Baseball Postage Stamps

There were some really nice looking baseball related postage stamps issued around the world pre-1950.

You might think the first baseball themed postage stamp would be issued by the United States, but it was actually issued in the Philippines in 1934.  There was a great article in Old Cardboard # 32 from the Spring of 2015 related to these stamps.

After reading that article, I decided to collect these stamps.  I used to collect stamps as a kid so I thought it would enjoy these stamps.  I was able to pick up all but one of the pre-1950 stamps.  The one I haven't gotten yet is the 1935 Colombia issue due to the fact that it is difficult to find as a single stamp and is usually found as part of a 16 stamp set that sells in the $1K range. 

Pictured below are the stamps I have so far.

 

These two are the 1934 Philippines and the 1938 Panama examples.

 

 

 





This is the 1937 Nicaragua complete set of four different colors.

 

This is the first US Postage stamp with a baseball theme.  It is from 1939 and was issued as a centennial of baseball stamp as it was believed to have invented in 1839. 

 

 

This is my favorite of the different stamps issued before 1950.  This is the 1944 Venezuelan complete set of 9 different colors. 

 

 

This block of four represent a set issued in Japan in 1948 and as you can see one of them includes a baseball scene.

 

 

Also issued in 1948, this stamp from Nicaragua shows a close play at the plate. 

 

There are many stamps from around the world issued after 1950 and I have quite a few of them as well.  I have these pre-1950 stamps all posted online on my online wantlist website.  You can check them out here.

 

I still need to scan and post most of the stamps from after 1950.  I have most of the classics shown already, but there are many more to see. 

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's an awesome one.







1880's Trade Card

Here's a neat card I have tucked away and almost forgot I had.


This is an 1880's (I think) Trade Card with a baseball theme.  Trade cards were given away in the mid to late nineteenth century to advertise products or services.  When color lithography became popular, these cards were printed in abundence.

The one I have is not really rare or even that hard to find, but it is a good example of a trade card from that era.  There were thousands of different subjects that would be pictured on trade cards and baseball was one of them. 

The game was starting to become more popular in the late 1800's and printers came up with some very nice designs and some very basic ones. 

Mine is quite simple really with only a couple of colors but some of them are very colorful and are great works of art. 

A few years ago, the US Post Office came out with a baseball themed stamp that was taken from a trade card.  I did a post about these when they came out because my wife bought me a sheet of the stamps. 

Here are a few images of other trade cards so you can get a better idea of the different styles.

This first one is the one the stamp was made from with images of the stamps next.

I really like these old trade cards and I think they are very undervalued at this time to be honest.  Some of them sell for hundreds of dollars but you can find some for less than twenty on eBay.

After all, these things are considered by many to be the first baseball cards.

Enjoy the hobby all...it's an awesome one.

A Nice Surprise From My Wife

My wife is a great woman. She is probably the only person alive who truly knows how much I love prewar baseball cards and baseball history and all of this stuff.

When I came home from work on Friday (my last day before our big move) she surprised me with a wonderful little gift. First she had gone to the post office to mail a couple of packages for me, that was a gift in itself, and second she had picked up these awesome new stamps that the post office has issued.

These things are so cool! They are the post offices way of celebrating the 100th anniversary of Jack Norworth's "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" song.

My first thought was, "Wow, these really have a nice authentic 19th century look to them". And then, while checking out one of my usual hobby message boards, I came across a post by a very knowledgable member with a most amazing revelation...

The image IS an authentic 19th century picture.

Fantastic! I'm telling you people, I will never cease to be amazed by the people in this hobby.