The Honus Wagner baseball card, issued in 1909 by the American Tobacco Company, became the most valuable baseball card in the world. This card had a white border and featured Honus Wagner, 2B for the Pittsburgh Pirates on it. Wagner was considered to be the finest baseball player at that time. It is difficult to know exactly how many of these baseball cards were produced, although the number is likely to be somewhere between 50 and 200.
There is some confusion as to the exact reason that Honus Wagner did not want production of the baseball cards continued. Some reports state that he wanted a larger compensation from the American Tobacco Company. His granddaughter, on the other hand, reported that he did not want children buying packs of cigarettes in order to get his card.
There are about 57 known Honus Wagner cards in circulation. Although most of the cards in this series had a standard measurement, some of them were irregular in size or shaped awkwardly. This often fueled the belief of many collectors that the cards had been altered in some way.
The history of baseball cards themselves goes all the way back to the mid 1800s. At around that time in history, both photography and baseball were becoming popular. Baseball associations began to get together to have their photograph taken together. These were then typically put on small, wallet sized cards. These cards featured the baseball player on one side and an advertisement for a local business on the other side.
At first, those companies with ties to baseball such as Peck and Snyder, a New York based store that specialized in sporting goods, were using baseball cards in this manner. Some people consider these 1868 Peck and Snyder offerings to be the first baseball cards. As baseball's popularity continued to increase, many other companies, even those with no ties to baseball, issued cards of this nature.
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As of the 20th century, however, tobacco companies and confectionery companies were the primary producers of baseball cards. Breisch-Williams, an Oxford, Pennsylvania based confectionery company, issued the first substantial set of baseball cards. A number of other companies quickly followed suit, with the American Tobacco Company issuing its first set of baseball cards featuring Honus Wagner in 1909.
It is interesting to note that both World War I and World War II saw the production of baseball cards slump as the United States put all of its efforts into ensuring that the country had an ample supply of wartime products. After a period of recovery at the end of World War I, several ice cream companies issued baseball cards. In contrast to earlier baseball cards, these later cards often included statistics and other personal information about the players on the back.
The 1930s saw quite a noticeable uptick in the amount of baseball cards as the U.S. Caramel card set was released in 1932. In 1933, Goudey Gum Co. issued a very popular set that included such great players like Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Unlike previously issued sets of baseball cards, these cards included bright and hand colored photos of the players on one side of the card and detailed biographical information on the back.
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