1939 Play Ball

The debut of the 1939 Play Ball series by Gum, Incorporated, ushered in a new era of baseball cards. The set consists of 161 cards (though card #126 was never issued), each 2-1/2” by 3-1/8” in size - larger than nearly any tobacco card of the early 20th century. Each item featured quality likenesses of the respective ballplayer printed in black-and-white. It is anchored by the early card of Joe DiMaggio and the one-and-only 1939 baseball card depiction of rookie Ted Williams, as well as numerous Hall of Famers, including Earl Averill, Leo Durocher, Bill Dickey, Hank Greenberg, Chuck Klein, Heinie Manush. As expected card #1 Jake Powell and card # 162 Whitey Moore are highly sought in high grade, due to their unenviable positions on the top and bottom of childhood stacks. Many of the cards between #2-115 are found with the player name either in all capital letters, or in both upper- and lower-case letters (those examples constituting as close to a “rarity” as the set offers). Minor differences in type styles and biographical information have also been noted. Cards #1-#115 can also be found with red text printed atop back text on backs that reads, “FREE Sample Card – Get your pictures of leading baseball players. Three picture cards packed in each package of “Play Ball America” Bubble Gum at your candy store.” The advertisement also provided the price of one cent at the bottom." The exact means of distribution of these sample cards is unknown.