Basketball Cards
1920s
Click on images to enlarge
Images are all from the Retro Baloncesto collection and are ascending by year. The rarity scale (for cards) is based on graded POP reports, online exemplars, past listings, available sales history and is subject to change.
Including postcards, trade cards, stamps, flannels, felts & silks
LA SUD AMERICANA BARAJA FANTASIA SPORTS BASKET-BALL PLAYING CARDS (SPAIN)
The Baraja (Deck of Cards) Fantasia game playing cards were released as a variety of sets with different backs. Variations included a full black & white landscape image, an all-blue illustrated image or a full color illustrated image. There were two sets, “Futbol” & “Sports”, that had the full color illustrated backs with a lower section dedicated to advertising. This section was typically advertising Spanish chocolate companies but are also found blank, without any advertiser listed. Both of these sets consisted of 48 cards.
The Fantasia Futbol set featured only foot-ball and the Sports set featured a variety of sports including Foot-ball, Tennis, Rowing, etc and included a total of four Basket-ball cards: 9,10,11 & 12 of Clubs. These cards are very scarce, with only a handful of examples known to exist. The exact date of the cards is unknown but the consensus is around 1920.
Measurements: 2.5” x 3.5”
circa 1920
THE "WONDER FIVE" BASKETBALL TEAM TRADE CARD ADVERTISING MARION, INDIANA (U.S.A.)
1921-1922
BASCHETT-BALL #1 UNA FASE EMOZIONANTE CARD (AN EXCITING PHASE), UNKNOWN PUBLISHER (ITALY)
I have yet to find any comparables for this card. It is the first time I have seen the word "Baschett-Ball". I was only able to find one example of this term used for the game, it was in the June 1923 issue of L'Araldo Abruzzese, referring to a match between the national boarding school and Stamura Ancona. I'm guessing this card is of that era as the term Palla Al Cesto was commonly used in most mid 1920s examples.
Measurements: 2" x 1.375"
circa 1923
DEPORTES COLECCION DE 100 CROMOS #99 BASKET-BALL (DIMAS ALONSO CHOCOLATES) (SPAIN)
This is the only basketball card in the Deportes Coleccion De 100 set. There were different manufacturers making these cards & a variety of businesses advertised on the back, in this case Dimas Alonso, a chocolate and sugar company. This is the highest graded example of this card.
Measurements: 2.375" x 3.375"
1923-1924
PALLA AL CESTO (BALL TO THE BASKET) CARDS UNKNOWN PUBLISHER/UNCLASSIFIED (ITALY)
Basketball was introduced to Italy in 1915 by Guido Graziani who had graduated in the U.S. where he had learned the game at the YMCA. It was initially named "Palla Al Cesto" (Ball to the Basket) before being changed to "Pallacanestro" (Basketball) in the late 1920s. Squadra (Squad) ASSI, featured on card #34, was one of the founding members/teams of The Italian Basketball Federation which formed in 1921. Between 1921-1927, ASSI dominated the sport, only losing the title in 1923. There is a picture of the ASSI team from the La Tribuna Illustrata Magazine in December of 1927 where they are pictured wearing darker uniforms with an "A" on their chest. The photos on these cards are prior to lettered uniforms. With this information I'm guessing that this card set was produced sometime between 1922 and 1926, the publisher remains unknown.
Measurements: 2" x 1.25"
circa 1922-1926
PALLA AL CESTO (BALL TO THE BASKET) CARDS, UNKNOWN PUBLISHER/UNCLASSIFIED (ITALY)
These cards are very similar to the Palla Al Cesto cards shown above but vary slightly. They are slightly smaller in size and have rounded corners. The rounded corners are uniform and seem intentional, especially when viewed from the reverse and compared with the squared off, cornered examples already discussed. The publisher is also unknown but I assume it's the same as the previous cards, as the font lettering and style match. The year is presumed to be early to mid 1920s when comparing these photos to Italian basketball photos of that period.
Measurements: 1.125" x 1.9375"
circa 1922-1926
WILLARD CHOCOLATE V122 SPORTS CHAMPIONS #42 EDMONTON GRADS (CANADA)
The sports champions V122 cards were released with Willard Chocolate Bars and the set consisted of 56 cards of various sports, including 1 basketball card. The card featured the "Edmonton Grads", a famous Canadian women's basketball team that dominated the sport in the 1920s & 1930s. Measurements: 1.375" x 3.375"
About the Edmonton Grads: The Edmonton Grads were a Canadian women's basketball team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada active from 1912 – 1940. The team continues to hold the North American record for the women's sports team with the best winning percentage. In the 522 games the Grads competed in between 1915 and 1940, they won 502 of them, giving them a winning percentage over 96%
The Grads won the first women's world title in basketball in 1924 and continued winning titles in North America in Europe throughout the 1920s & 1930s. They retained their amateur status to make sure they would be eligible for the Olympics if basketball was made an official Olympic sport. They never got to play in official games but won all 24 matches they played in the during Olympic exhibition games between 1924 and 1936. Women's basketball wasn't included in the Olympics until 1976.
As the most successful women's basketball team of the early 20th century, the Edmonton Grads made news headlines across North America and as far away as Hong Kong and the Philippines. Their success had a strong impact on public attitudes towards female athletes, making it more socially acceptable for women to play sports. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, considered the Edmonton Grads to be "the finest basketball team that ever stepped out on a floor".
1924
CLUB GES CHAMPION DE PARIS, SECOND TEAM OF THE 1ST AND BASKETBALL DIVISION OF HONOR POSTCARD
Basketball wasn't an official Olympic event until 1936, but it was played as an unofficial exhibition event at the 1924 Summer Olympics as part of the Jeux de L'Enfance, an accompanying youth sports competition. Teams represented different cities and clubs in France, as well as overseas YMCA chapters. Club GES, pictured here, finished 2nd in the 1st Division d'Honneur. Although basketball wasn't recognized by the International Olympic Committee as an official demonstration sport in 1924, the matches were included in the Official Report of the Games.
1924
DOMINION CHOCOLATE V31 ATHLETIC STARS(CANADA)
The 1925 Dominion Chocolates set consisted of 180 Sports cards and were issued in two separate series. In total there are 7 Basketball cards in the set. There were coupons on the bottom of each card that were redeemable for prizes, so examples are sometimes missing these. I'm not sure if any of the basketball cards are rarer than others.
Measurements: 1.125" x 2.875"
1925
BLISS COLLEGE BASKET BALL TEAM TRADE CARD ADVERTISING BLISS COLLEGE ENROLLMENT IN COLUMBUS, OHIO
1920s PHOTO POSTCARD OF MEN PLAYING BASKETBALL ON THE DECK OF A MILITARY BATTLESHIP
1925
PICCARDO y CIA LDA CIGARRILLOS PLUS ULTRA BASKETBALL CARDS (ARGENTINA)
Piccardo & Cia Lda was a tobacco company in Argentina that distributed these cards in their "Plus Ultra" cigarette packs. The set was built up of series that featured athletes and celebrities. The total amount of cards in each series and set is unknown but an estimate of the series size is based off a presumed 285 cards in the series C set. The only basketball I've seen examples of (including mine) are from series E. These are very rare, so there is no complete checklist to confirm exactly how many cards there are, it is assumed that all of the series amount to a combined set of over 2,000 cards. Measurements: 1.3125" x 2.6875"
1926
J.S. ONAGOITY y CIA LOS CIGARRILLOS DOLAR SERIE 2a, No 433, BASKET-BALL, TEAM COMBINADO DE PROVINCIA (ARGENTINA)
J.S. Onagoity was a tobacco company in Argentina that distributed these cards in their "Dolar" cigarette packs. The cards featured athletes from a large variety of sports. They were released in 5 series beginning in 1925. The basketball card here was released in series 2a, which was released in 1926-27. The exact number of basketball cards is unknown as there is no complete checklist for this series or set. Measurements: 1.3125" x 2.5"
1926-27
CIOCCOLATO SALVI PALLA AL CESTO CARDS (ITALY)
The Cioccolato Chocolate Company was located in Milan and was in business for the majority of the 20th century. They released a few sports sets in the 1920s/1930s, the majority of which consisted of soccer (futbol) cards. These are the only Salvi cards featuring basketball that I've seen. It's unknown if there were any others in the set. Palla Al Cesto translates to Ball to the Basket and was regularly used until about 1930, when Pallacanestro (basketball) became universally used. Measurements: 1.375" x 2.125"
1927-28
CUBAN CIGARROS AGUILITAS DEPORTIVAS BASKET-BALL #394 TEAM C. FERROVIARIO (CUBA)
This rare card is from the Cuba Deportiva set distributed by Aguilitas cigarettes. There were many basketball cards in the set but the exact number is unknown.
Measurements: 1.5" x 2.25"
1928
TURMAC OF HOLLAND KORFBALL (NETBALL) SILK (HOLLAND)
This silk was part of the Sport and Nature Series distributed through packs of Turkish Macedonian Tobacco in Holland. Turmac issued silks between 1926-1934 but I've seen this one listed as 1928 a few times, so I've labeled it as such.
Measurements: 2" x 3"
1928
DITTA SEVERINO CEI CARAMELLE ROMA # 78 PALLA AL CESTO, ITALIA-FRANCIA (ITALY)
I obtained this card from someone who recently pulled it directly from the original packaging seen here, so the condition is great given it's age. Many of the other cards in the pack are dated 1929 and the term "Palla Al Cesto" (ball to basket) was largely replaced by "Pallacanestro" (basketball) by 1930, so I've determined this card was likely issued in either 1929 or 1930. I have found other examples of Carmelle Roma cards, but none similar to these, so I assume this set is very rare. The cards were manufactured by the Milanese company Severino Cei and distributed by the candy company Caramell Roma.
Measurements: 2" x 1.25"
circa 1929-1930
DIBUJOS ORIGINALES DE MASIA, AUN PODEMOS EMPATAR (WE CAN STILL DRAW), #38 BASKET-BALL (SPAIN)
This set of 40 cards feature comedic sports illustrations by the artist Juan Masia Lopez (1899-1971). This is the only basketball card in the set. The set was released in 2 variations, one with the card number inside the border, and a much rarer version with the card number located outside of the border. Like many early Spanish cards, the backs of these cards included various advertisers, typically chocolate, or nothing at all.
Measurements: 2.25" x 3.25"
late 1920s
PALLA AL CESTO ILLUSTRATED CARD, UNKNOWN PUBLISHER/UNCLASSIFIED (ITALY)
This card is the same image used in the 1930s "Pallacanestro" version with the differences being the name "Palla Al Cesto" and its slightly larger size. Even though CGC dated this 1930s, the "Palla Al Cesto" title would date the card earlier, most likely the late 1920s. The exact date and publisher remains unknown but it looks very similar to the illustrated cards that Marca Stella was publishing at the time.
Measurements: 1.4375" x 2.125"
late 1920s
PALLA AL CESTO ILLUSTRATED CARD, UNKNOWN PUBLISHER/UNCLASSIFIED (ITALY)
Although CGC labeled this card 1930s, I believe it to be late 20s because the term "Palla Al Cesto" had been replaced by "Pallacanestro" by 1930. It is not definitive, so the date remains unknown. The publisher is also unknown but it looks very similar to the illustrated cards that Marca Stella was publishing at the time.
Measurements: 2.125" x 1.5"
late 1920s
