‘Before There was Bubble Gum’ a Great Prewar Baseball Card Read

If you're familiar with SCD and have read a recent issue, you know we run regular columns from Dean Hanley of Deanscards.com. Dean usually supplies a short piece on a vintage baseball card set, providing some background on its creation, characteristics of the set and any anomalies the set offers. It's a nice refresher for some and an educational experience for others.

Along the same vein, Dean has taken some of those stories, and many more, and created the e-book, Before There was Bubble Gum: Our Favorite Pre-World War I Baseball Cards, along with Allyson Hamlin.

Before there was Bubble
Gum: Our favorite Pre-World War I Baseball Cards discusses a variety of early cards, ranging from tobacco cards, to
caramel cards, to cards issued with clothing, and everything in-between in its 50 pages.

The book is divided into sections, and each section is
devoted to focusing on one type of card.
The T-Card section for example, gives an overview of the T-Card industry
as a whole, and then is further broken down by chapters.Each chapter contains information on
one specific set of cards, and features numerous color pictures of the cards
being discussed.The T206 chapter
for example, discusses the various rare and common card backs found on the
American Tobacco Company’s famed white-border cards.

"We had a lot fun compiling all of the information and images
needed for this book," Hanley said. "In conducting our research of some of the lesser known sets, such as the
1916 Tango Egg set, we really had to dig deep to find information.We are hoping that this book will
educate collectors, sellers, and general baseball fans about the various
baseball cards sets of a century ago."

The authors provide a comprehensive, yet brief, introduction to the types of pre-World War I cards in the book, such as "N" cards, etc., providing a basis for their category and methods in which they were offered.

This is a good read on some of the more obscure card sets in existence, with ample photos of each set featured, which is great for identification. A nice, quick reference you can carry around on your computer or other hand-held device.

For $5.99, you can't go wrong. CLICK HERE for purchase details.

I'd be remiss if I didn't plug our Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards along with this post. For checklist and values for the sets featured in Dean's book, the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards is the best source on the market, and for just $29.69. You can order the HERE.