Mid-Atlantic Sports: 1939 Play Ball

1939 Play Ball Pittsburgh Pirates

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. 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.