The Goudey Gum Company was an American chewing gum company started in 1919. The company was founded by Enos Gordon Goudey (1863–1946) of Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia. Formerly an employee of Beemans, he opened a factory in Boston, Massachusetts in 1919 and later in Allston. It operated there from 1924 until it closed in 1962. Goudey sold the business in 1932 but he retained an interest as a consultant. On his retirement in 1933, William Wrigley Jr. dubbed him the "penny gum king of America". Today the Goudey name is mainly associated with its collectible

baseball card A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, stad ...

s which were introduced in 1933. Goudey was the first American company to issue baseball cards with each stick of gum (they had been available with cigarettes and certain lines of candy for many years).J. Ernest Kerr, ''Imprint of the Maritimes'', 1959, Boston: Christopher Publishing, p. 107

Goudey baseball cards

Most of the unreleased cards,

printing plate Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

s, and company archives were thrown away in the 1960s, although some were sold to collectors. Today, cards in good condition command a premium, especially those authenticated and graded by respected third-party graders.

Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (born Hyman Greenberg; January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", or "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major Leagu ...

and Lou Gehrig are prominently featured in the Goudey cards of the 1930s, colorful cards with hand drawn portraits of the players. Other baseball hall of fame and interesting players depicted on Goudey gum cards from 1933 to 1941 include: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb,

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

Bill Dickey William Malcolm Dickey (June 6, 1907 – November 12, 1993) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees for 19 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees as a player-manager in ...

, Carl Hubbell,

Lefty Grove Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove (March 6, 1900 – May 22, 1975) was an American professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball with the American League's P ...

, Dizzy Dean, Mickey Cochrane, Charlie Gehringer, Tony Lazzeri,

Mel Ott Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from through . He batted left-handed an ...

, Joe DiMaggio,

, "Ducky"

Joe Medwick Joseph Michael Medwick (November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975), nicknamed "Ducky" and "Muscles", was an American Major League Baseball player. A left fielder with the St. Louis Cardinals during the " Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also pla ...

and Moe Berg.

1933 set

In 1933, Goudey produced a 240 card set, also called "Big League Chewing Gum". These cards, issued with bubble gum in each pack, were the first baseball gum cards. The 1933 Goudey set is considered one of the "Big Three" classic baseball card sets, along with the

T206 T206 is a tobacco card set issued from 1909 to 1911 in cigarette and loose tobacco packs through 16 different brands owned by the American Tobacco Company. It is a landmark set in the history of baseball card collecting, due to its size and rarity, ...

and 1952

Topps The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, a ...

sets. One of the rarest baseball cards from a mainstream set is card #106 from the 1933 Goudey set. It was not originally issued with the set, so collectors could not complete the set from packs. In 1934, Goudey issued card #106 for the 1933 set with retired player Napoleon Lajoie. Collectors that sent letters to the Goudey Gum Company complaining about the lack of a #106 card received it in the mail. The 1933 Goudey #106 Napoleon Lajoie is known as one of the "Big Three" baseball cards along with two cards from the T206 set depicting

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

and Eddie Plank.

1934 set

In 1934, Goudey produced a 96 card set that was endorsed by two players, Lou Gehrig and Chuck Klein. The 1934 Goudey set is sometimes called the "Lou Gehrig" set. There are no Babe Ruth cards in the set. The Hank Greenberg rookie card is in this set.

1938 set

In 1938, Goudey produced a 48 card set, also known as the "Heads-Up" set. The cards were numbered from 241 to 288, thus looking like Goudey was trying to extend the 1933 Goudey set. The first 24 cards in the set depicts pictures of players heads attached to a cartoonish body in baseball action. The next 24 cards in the set depicts the same players and the same poses. The difference is the next 24 cards include small cartoonish characters playing baseball along with captions. Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg and Bob Feller are the big stars in this set.

Canadian Goudey

Similar cards as the 1933 and 1934 Goudey sets were also released in Canada by the Goudey-owned World Wide Gum Co, of Granby, Quebec. They are sometimes known as Canadian Goudey sets. There were 94 and 96 cards in these sets, respectively. The 1933 World Wide Gum set was released with two different backs, one with both French and English, and the other with only English. There has not been definitive proof, but one theory is that the French-English backs were sold in Quebec and the English-only backs were sold in Ontario.

List of Goudey baseball card sets

Year of issuance, popular name and designation from '' The American Card Catalog'':
* 1933 Goudey R319 * 1933 American R338 * 1933 World Wide Gum V353 * 1934 Goudey R320 * 1934 Goudey Premiums R390-1 * 1934 World Wide Gum V354 * 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 R321 * 1935 Goudey Premiums R390-2 * 1936 Goudey Wide Pens R314 * 1936 Goudey R322 * 1936 World Wide Gum V355 * 1938 Goudey "Heads-Up" R323 * 1939 Goudey Premiums R303 * 1939 World Wide Gum V351 * 1941 Goudey R324

List of Goudey non-sport sets

Year(s), name, quantity and dimensions: * 1933 Boy Scouts (48) Size: 2⅛ × 3¼ in. * 1933 Sea Raiders (48) Size: 2⅜ × 2⅞ in. * 1933 World War Gum (96X 2⅞ in. * 1933-40 Indian Gum (216) Size: 2⅜ × 2⅞ in. * 1934 Big Thrill Booklets (24) Size: 2-5/16 × 2⅞ in. * 1935 Majik Fold Pictures (9) Size: 5½ × 10¼ in. * 1935 The Goudey Line R.R. 12 × 5 × 5 in. * 1936 Auto License Plates (36) Size: 1½ × 3¼ in. * 1936 History Of Aviation (10) Size: 5½" square * 1937 Auto License Plates (69) Size: 1½ × 3¼ in. * 1938 Auto License Plates (66) Size: 1½ × 3¼ in. * 1938-39 Action Gum (96) Size: 2⅜ × 2⅞ inches * 1939 Auto License Plates (30) Size: 1½ × 3¼ in. * 1940 First Column Defenders (24) Size: 2½ × 3⅛ in. * 1941 Sky Birds (24) Size: 2-5/16 × 2⅞ in. * 1947-48 Indian Gum (96) Size: 2⅜ × 2⅞ in. * Jungle Gum (48) Size: 2⅜ × 2⅞ in. * Our Gang Gum Puzzles (25) Size: 3-11/16 × 5⅛ in. * Rainbow Radio Rascals (6) Size: 4⅜ × 5½ in. * Soldier Boys (24) Size: 2⅛ × 2⅞ in.

References

{{Sports cards Baseball cards Food and drink companies established in 1919 Food and drink companies disestablished in 1962 Publishing companies established in 1919 1919 establishments in Massachusetts 1962 disestablishments in Massachusetts Publishing companies disestablished in 1962