Mid-Atlantic Sports: 1933 Goudey

1933 Goudey Pittsburgh Pirates

Goudey’s 1933 Big League Gum set initiated a Golden Age for collectibles. The cards' most recognizable feature is their 2-3/8" by 2-7/8" size (much bigger than their predecessors' considerably narrower dimensions), as well as colorful, artistic illustrations that set a modern standard in terms of eye-appeal. The issue consisted of 239 cards, with a 240th entry – the remarkably scarce Napoleon Lajoie #106 - produced in 1934 in response to consumer outcry and mailed to fans only upon request. Prominent among the 1933 series' content is an abundance of Hall of Famers. The 1933 Goudey cards were printed on ten different press sheets containing 24 cards apiece, and the subjects found on the first two of those sheets ("Low Numbers") are a bit scarcer than the issue's other entries. Goudey's 1933 cards were also printed on thicker cardboard stock than their tobacco card predecessors, with that thickness establishing the template for modern day cards.