The Fascinating History of Baseball Cards

As much as the rectangular, cardboard prints themselves, people growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s remember the dry, chalky slab of gum that accompanied baseball cards in their plastic packs. But when the medium was first invented, the cards themselves were the added bonus. The product? Cigarettes.

That's just one of the many revelations of “Game Faces: Early baseball cards from The Library of Congress” (Smithsonian Books), a history of the first generations of cards, from 1887-1914, by Peter Devereaux.