The 4 Eras of Hockey Cards

The world of hockey cards can be divided into four distinct eras since they first started appearing in cigarette packages at the start of the 20th century.

The first era was sporadic at best. From 1910 until the beginning of the Second World War, cards weren't consistently produced each year and were produced by a handful of different manufacturers. Also, the cards were not of today's standard size. Many came from tobacco companies as an insert in their packaging. Some did start coming in the traditional bubble gum packages.

In the 1930's, the modern card size was produced by O-Pee-Chee. 1933-34 saw O-Pee-Chee and others produced several different sets. The prize of these sets was the cards of Montreal Canadiens great, Howie Morenz.

The second era began with Parkhurst producing a set in 1951-52. This series included the rookie cards of both Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings and Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens. The Howe rookie card is worth $3000 today, forming a trifecta of $3000 cards that include the rookie cards of Bobby Hull and Bobby Orr.

The 1951-52 Parkhurst series of hockey cards began an annual production of cards that has carried on until today. Until O-Pee-Chee made its return in the late 1960's, Parkhurst and Topps both produced a series each year, splitting the six teams between the two companies.

The third era like the second with the release of a very valuable rookie card. The 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee and Topps rookie card of Wayne Gretzky sparked a renewed interest in the hobby of collecting hockey cards. Throughout the 1980's, the value of vintage hockey cards was being recognized throughout North America. Older hockey cards that were considered kids collectables that should be in the garbage, were now being valued in the hundreds and thousands of dollars.

The fourth era can be considered the ProSet era and started in 1990-91 when ProSet and other new hockey card companies flooded the market. Twenty years later, ProSet cards from their first series are worth next to nothing. The fully realize what happened after 1990 in the hockey card world, just pick up a copy of Beckett Hockey Monthly. From 1910 until 1989-90, all the hockey cards are listed in about six pages of the Beckett Price Guide. The following 20 plus years has some single years taking up several pages.

With each era, the hobby became more and more popular. Unfortunately, as it became more and more popular, it became more and more saturated, expensive and confusing.

Tom is a hockey history enthusiast and the author of ohlalumnicentral.com and vintagehockeycardsreport.com.

Picture above taken from Baseball-cards.com

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