Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Baseball Cards
Do you collect baseball cards? Many people do. Did you know that baseball cards have been around more than one hundred years? A few years after the Civil War ended, cards were used to advertise many kinds of products. Baseball cards soon became favorites. Cards with pictures of individual baseball players and whole teams were first put into packages of tobacco in 1887. The cards served a useful purpose. They helped protect the cigarettes from being crushed. They were also an added reason for customers to buy the product.
At that time, American cities were growing. Factory workers had some time off work, and they needed something to do for entertainment. Many immigrants came to America in the years after the Civil War. They spoke many languages, but everyone could understand the game of baseball. Watching baseball games was a favorite pastime for people in cities. Baseball cards were popular. The cards were small and easy to collect.
Honus Wagner was the star of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early 1900s. His picture was printed on a card and sold in packs of cigarettes. He ordered that his card be removed from packages. It was said that he didn't want children buying cigarettes because of his card. As a result, the Wagner card was very rare. Not many of them were made.
