How Licensing Has Shaped Baseball Cards and What We Collect

I visited a card store recently that boasted more than 40 million cards for sale. Having worked through most Topps and Bowman sets, I asked the young man at the counter if they had much in the way of vintage oddball cards. It took a while for me to explain what I was looking for. I concluded that they had regular Topps issues from 1958 to 1980 but no oddballs that I had in mind. Defining Oddball Cards Jefferson Burdick (1900-1963) did a fantastic job of categorizing cards issued with tobacco, bakery goods, gum, candy, meat, ice cream, and cards…