« Card Definitions and Designations - 1886 Red Stocking Cigar »
The First Baseball Card: 1869 Peck & Snyder
8 April 2007
Though Harper’s Weekly - a nationally distributed newspaper first published in 1857 - had printed baseball woodcuts for at least a decade - the first American baseball card was circulated in 1869. It is a team card that was distributed by desperate retailers trying to spread the word about their company. Known as the Peck & Snyder Cincinnati Red Stockings card (because of the manufacturer and team depicted), this 140-year-old card measures 3-1/4" by 4-1/2". It shows a sepia-toned image of ten professional baseball players.
Though other companies distributed the cards without advertisements, Peck & Snyder distributed them with the Peck & Snyder advertisement on the reverses, and is also credited with being the first mass producer of baseball cards. This is one of several Peck & Snyder cards printed from 1868-1870.
At the time, the Red Stockings were America’s first professional baseball club. The cards were simply a photograph of the Red Stockings, pasted to a piece of cardboard. Included in the image are players Hurley, George Wright, Allison, McVey, Leonard, Sweasy, Waterman, Brainard, and Gould. Also included is Harry Wright, the team leader and the "father of baseball". Less than ten of the Peck & Snyder cards are known to exist today. But if you do have one in any condition (beyond destroyed), you could ask tens of thousands of dollars for it. The Wright brothers (no, not the airplane inventors!) represent the Hall of Fame players on the card.
About Peck & Snyder
Photo: 1869 Peck & Snyder Cincinnati Red Stockings baseball card (reverse).
Peck & Snyder was a major baseball equipment manufacturer, and sporting goods and amusements firm from New York which launched around 1866. Owners W. Irving Snyder and Andrew Peck are also known for their invention of the first rubber-soled and canvas tennis shoe, the inline skate (with two wheels) and the magic lantern. In 1875, Snyder’s younger brother, Ward issued a catalog of gymnasium goods, air guns, and baseball equipment - among other things. The company was located at 124-128 Nassau Stree
If you know anything about the sport of baseball, you will also know that Spaulding is a company that has its name on myriad baseball gloves, basketballs, and other sports equipment. Well, in 1888 Irving and Albert Spaulding (owner of Spaulding) bounced around the world promoting the sport of baseball. In 1894, Spaulding bought a portion of the Peck & Snyder company. For more information about the Peck & Snyder company, including a very interesting look at Ward B. Snyder’s Catalog, visit the Vintage Baseball Association’s web site.
There are many things that have made the 1869 Peck & Snyder team card so valuable. Included, obviously is scarcity. Nostalgia, and the fact that this is the first baseball card add to its mystic. But, a unique thing about the card is the baseball team displayed. The Red Stockings, in compiling an unbeaten season in 1968, were known for standing in front of the crowd before each game and singing their theme song. This was odd, since most teams sang their fight songs as they rode to the park in garnished, lavishly designed horse-drawn wagons. Nonetheless, both of these motivational techniques are a far cry from modern day cheerleading!
One can speculate that the team chose to promote their likeness on an advertisement card because they relished the attention. Or, most likely, the team received payment for the endorsement. In describing the Peck & Snyder card, the editors of Tuff Stuff magazine wrote:
This card is credited as being the first baseball card of professional players. For decades before "insert" cards became popular, retailers used "trade" cards or "advertising" cards to lure customers and hype their products. Some of the cards had blank backs but most had an advertising message on the back that was in no way related to the picture on the front.
Peck & Snyder’s catalogs of sporting equipment went far beyond the subject of baseball. One of their catalogs, entitled, "Peck & Snyder: Price List of Out & Indoor Sports & Pastimes" lists everything from tennis rackets, hand guns, and rifles to knives, puzzles, and banjos. The company’s catalogs are still availabe today and are high sought after.
Harvey Frommer, of Allsports.com wrote:
Peck and Snyder of New York City not only carried the catcher’s mask but also advertised "new styles of baseball uniforms and outfits; baseball caps, eight corners with star in top of corded seams for $10 per dozen ($1 sample by mail); uniform flannel for $8 a dozen, and second quality flannels at $6 a dozen." There were also belts for sixty cents each, heavy English all-worsted hose in either solids or stripes for $2.50 each or $27 for a dozen. With cotton feet, the hose were just $24 a dozen-three dollars less for leggings.
The real impetus making the catcher’s mask an important part of the equipment of the national pastime took place in 1879, when the rules committee outlawed the foul-bound catch, banning catchers from retiring a batter on a foul tip caught on the first bounce. This change in rules made catchers play closer to the plate-increasing their chances of injury and increasing the need for protection.
One Response to ' The First Baseball Card: 1869 Peck & Snyder '
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
on April 8th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
[…] the 1869 Peck & Snyder Cincinnati Red Stockings card is recognized as the first tru baseball card, the first pure domestic baseball card set was […]