Sports Collectibles | History Of Sports Collectibles
HISTORY OF SPORTS COLLECTIBLES
The sports collectibles hobby came into existence in the 1880's with the introduction of artistic portrayals of 19th century baseball players. These portrayals were often on cords included in boxes containing tobacco and caramel products. The cards were meant as an enhancement to the product being sold.
These cards were collected by many individuals over the following 90 years. However, no sophisticated secondary market existed until approximately 1970. By that time, sports cards had been produced to varying degrees for all of the major sports, including hockey. Significant production of hockey cards began in the early 1950's when both Parkhurst and Topps produced trading cards.
Beginning in the early 1970's, significant interest on the part of collectors in old sports cards resulted in the creation of hobby trade shows. The purpose of these events were to gather collecting enthusiasts together to buy, sell, or trade...
[The entire page is 561 words long]