December 4, 2008
Like baseball cards, the first American football cards were packaged as promotional trade cards with tobacco, the earliest known being a 1894 set from Mayo's Tobacco featuring 35 Ivy League football players. These early sets weren't terribly popular, but sets made after WW2 by Bowman Gum and Leaf Candy Company sparked greater interest.
After Bowman's buyout by Topps, football cards became a staple for kids and collectors. Look for older cards, Bowman cards from before the Topps buyout, and of course, autographed cards.
How did I start collecting Victorian trade cards? In the late 60s I was a bottle collector, early American bo… [more]
Dave Campbell contacted me after reading a post on The Baseball Card blog. He's been collecting baseball card… [more]
This great database of pro and collegiate football cards from the 1950s and 1960s offers scanned images of cards fo… [more]
Great reference on ephemera... includes examples and descriptions of various ephemera categories, selected special … [more]
Brian Powers' excellent gallery of over a century of Wolverines ticket stubs (1900 to 2005), not to mention a lot o… [more]
Marty Weil's wide-ranging, in-depth blog on ephemera, including lots of great interviews with ephemera collectors. … [more]
While missing a few editions, this gallery of University of Washington football game program cover art is must-see … [more]
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