City Collectors' Cards - Baines Cards

John Baines of Manningham began producing collectors cards in 1887. Rugby, football and cricket were the mainstays. However, even school football got a look in!

Sold in packets of six, the cards were avidly collected by generations of schoolboys. Baines encouraged the obsession by offering prizes to the person who returned the largest number of cards to his North Parade base.

The craze hits its zenith in the 1920s when a staggering 13.5m cards were sold across the North and Scotland. Baines retired when he sold his business to a Barnsley concern in the late 1920s.

By that time even cigarette manufacturers had got in on the act, by offering cigarette cards in their packets. Since then bubble gum cards and today stickers have followed in the wake of John Baines.

As a top flight club, Bradford City were heavily represented in the early years of Baines cards and cigarette cards. It naturally waned when the club fell from grace, but saw a renewal when promotion to the Premiership was gained in 1999. Perhaps one day a ‘Peter Beagrie’ will be as collectable - and valuable - as a ‘Jimmy Speirs’.

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