Baseball Cards

Duke Cigarette inserts depicted many different subjects, but they were not the first to include baseball scenes and players. That designation - according to the Library of Congress - goes to Allen & Ginter.  Their "World’s Champions," - of 1887 - "is generally acknowledged as the first significant tobacco set issued."

Collecting baseball cards soon became a passion - and ultimately a big business - not just for children but for adults. Honus Wagner - a Hall of Fame second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates - was upset, however, when his picture was used, without his permission, to sell cigarettes.

He unwittingly created the most sought-after card in the world today because of his concerns about marketing cigarettes to children.

Wagner, it is said, demanded that cards with his image - which cost less than a penny to buy - be pulled from production in 1909. As a result, very few of the T206 White Border #366 Honus Wagner cards were ever issued. One of them - which formerly belonged to Wayne Gretzky - reportedly sold for $2.35 million in February, 2007.

Whoever thought that the origins of baseball, and baseball cards, could be so interesting?