Today, Topps is recognized for being a famous sports card company. Many people don’t know, however, that they started as a family gum business in Brooklyn. This story starts with a tobacco company that was owned by Morris Shorin. When the company was struggling, his four sons created Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. to help revive the company. From there, the vision has grown.
Eventually, Topps became famous for being a candy maker; they are known for their ring pops, push pops, and other sweet treats. In 1949, they created 252 Magic Photo Cards, which were free when you purchased a pack of gum. Some of the featured sports stars included Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, and Cy Young. It wasn’t until 1950 that they released a popular card culture set with non-sports cards.
Their first sports card set was released a year later, which consisted of 52 blue back cards and 52 red back cards in separate sets, which was designed so that kids can play a game of card-baseball. These cards were the beginning of a long history of sports cards sold by Topps. After this, in 1952, Topps created their first annual series of baseball cards. The set featured 407 cards and was released throughout the year in 6 series. This was the set that really made collectors fall in love with the cards released by Topps.
For years, Topps has continued to sell baseball cards, making some of the best sets in history. At American Legends, there are certain Topps cards and sets that we would love to purchase. If you want to sell baseball cards from Topps, contact us today.
