"An entertaining history of baseball cards... An engaging book on a narrow but fascinating topic." -- The Washington Post

When award-winning journalist Dave Jamieson's parents sold his childhood home a few years ago, he rediscovered a prized boyhood possession: his baseball card collection. Now was the time to cash in on the "investments" of his youth. But all the card shops had closed, and cards were selling for next to nothing online. What had happened?

In Mint Condition, his fascinating, eye-opening, endlessly entertaining book, Jamieson finds the answer by tracing the complete story of this beloved piece of American childhood. Picture cards had long been used for advertising, but after the Civil War, tobacco companies started slipping them into cigarette packs as collector's items. Before long, the cards were wagging the cigarettes. In the 1930s, cards helped gum and candy makers survive the Great Depression. In the 1960s, royalties from cards helped transform the baseball players association into one of the country's most powerful unions, dramatically altering the game. In the eighties and nineties, cards went through a spectacular bubble, becoming a billion-dollar-a-year industry before all but disappearing, surviving today as the rarified preserve of adult collectors. Mint Condition is charming, original history brimming with colorful characters, sure to delight baseball fans and collectors.

"Jamieson explores the history of card collecting through an entertaining cast of characters... For anyone who can recall being excited to rip open their newest pack of cards, Mint Condition is a treat." -- Forbes

• We started tracking this book on November 4, 2011.
• This book was $8.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 202 times in the past 4,868 days.
• The current price of this book is $2.99 last checked one day ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past year.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on August 12, 2021.
• This book has been $1.99 15 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $11.99 last reached on July 1, 2024.
• This book has been $11.99 22 times since we started tracking it.

• Crafts, Hobbies & HomeAntiques & CollectiblesSports CardsBaseball

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 352 Pages
• File Size: 58 KB