Editing Baseball card (section)

===1930–1950===
[[File:JimmyFoxxGoudeycard.jpg|thumb|right|170px|Jimmy Foxx 1933 Goudey baseball card]]
In the early 1930s, production soared, starting with the 1932 U.S. Caramel set. The popular 1933 [[Goudey|Goudey Gum Co.]] issue, which included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig cards, best identifies this era. In contrast to the economical designs standard in earlier decades, this card set featured bright, hand-colored player photos on the front. In addition, the backs provided brief biographies and personal information such as height, weight, and birthplace. The 240-card set, quite large for the time, included current players, former stars, and prominent minor leaguers. Individual cards measured {{convert|2+3/8|by|2+7/8|in|cm}}, which Goudey printed on 24-card sheets and distributed throughout the year.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.psacard.com/articles/article_view.chtml?artid=4775&universeid=314&type=1| title= 1933 Goudey R319: A Closer Look at One of the Hobby's "Big Three"| access-date= 2008-01-08| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080208063610/http://www.psacard.com/articles/article_view.chtml?artid=4775&universeid=314&type=1| archive-date= 2008-02-08| url-status= dead}}</ref> The bulk of early [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|National Baseball Hall of Fame]] inductees appear in this set.

1933 also saw the delivery of the World Wide Gum issue. World Wide Gum Co. was based in Montreal and had a close relationship with the Goudey Gum Company, as each of their four issues closely resembled a Goudey contemporary. Goudey, National Chicle, Delong, and a handful of other companies were competitive in the bubble gum and baseball card market until World War II began.

After 1941, cards would not be produced in any significant numbers until a few years after the end of the war. Then, wartime production transitioned into the post-war civilian [[consumer goods]], and in 1948 baseball card production resumed in the U.S. with issues by the [[Bowman Gum]] and the [[Leaf Candy Company]]. At the same time, [[Topps|Topps Gum Company]] issued their Magic Photos set four years before they issued their first "traditional" card set.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.baseball-almanac.com/baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1948top01 | title = Topps Magic Photos | access-date = 2006-09-19}}</ref> By 1950, Leaf had bowed out of the industry.

Japanese baseball cards became more numerous in 1947 and 1950. The cards were associated with [[Menko]], a Japanese card game. Early [[Baseball Menko|baseball menko]] were often round and were printed on thick cardboard stock to facilitate the game.<ref name="Gall">{{cite book | last = Gall | first = John | author-link = John Gall (designer)| title = Sayonara Home Run! | publisher = Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA | year = 2006}}</ref>