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John Baines of Manningham, Bradford began producing collectors cards in 1887.
Rugby, Football (Soccer), Golf 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.
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