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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession Paperback - 2011

by Dave Jamieson

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Reader reviews for Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

From the publisher

"An entertaining history of baseball cards . . . An engaging book on a narrow but fascinating topic." --The Washington Post

When award-winning journalist Dave Jamieson's parents sold his childhood home a few years ago, he rediscovered a prized boyhood possession: his baseball card collection. Now was the time to cash in on the "investments" of his youth. But all the card shops had closed, and cards were selling for next to nothing online. What had happened?

In Mint Condition, his fascinating, eye-opening, endlessly entertaining book, Jamieson finds the answer by tracing the complete story of this beloved piece of American childhood. Picture cards had long been used for advertising, but after the Civil War, tobacco companies started slipping them into cigarette packs as collector's items. Before long, the cards were wagging the cigarettes. In the 1930s, cards helped gum and candy makers survive the Great Depression. In the 1960s, royalties from cards helped transform the baseball players association into one of the country's most powerful unions, dramatically altering the game. In the eighties and nineties, cards went through a spectacular bubble, becoming a billion-dollar-a-year industry before all but disappearing, surviving today as the rarified preserve of adult collectors. Mint Condition is charming, original history brimming with colorful characters, sure to delight baseball fans and collectors.

"Jamieson explores the history of card collecting through an entertaining cast of characters . . . For anyone who can recall being excited to rip open their newest pack of cards, Mint Condition is a treat." --Forbes


Details

  • Title Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession
  • Author Dave Jamieson
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First Edition; F
  • Pages 288
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Grove Press, New York, NY, U.S.A.
  • Publication date 2011-04-12
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Illustrated, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780802145321 / 0802145329
  • Weight 0.61 lbs (0.28 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.21 x 5.76 x 0.78 in (20.85 x 14.63 x 1.98 cm)
  • Themes
    • Holiday: Father's Day
  • Category Sports & Recreation
  • Dewey Decimal Code 796.357

About the author

Dave Jamieson has written for Slate, The New Republic, and Washington City Paper, among others, and has won the prestigious Sidney Award and the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. He lives in Washington, D.C., with a closetful of worthless baseball cards, all of them in excellent condition.

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Mint Condition : How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

Mint Condition : How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

by Dave Jamieson

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9780802145321 / 0802145329
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Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated, 2011. Paperback. Acceptable. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession [Paperback] Jamieson, Dave
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession [Paperback] Jamieson, Dave
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession [Paperback] Jamieson, Dave

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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

by Dave Jamieson

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780802145321 / 0802145329
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

by Jamieson, Dave

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780802145321 / 0802145329
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Grove Press, 2011-04-12. paperback. Used: Good. 5.76x0.78x8.21. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

by Jamieson, Dave

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780802145321 / 0802145329
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Grove Press. paperback. Good. 5.8x0.8x8.3. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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Mint Condition : How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

Mint Condition : How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

by Dave Jamieson

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780802145321 / 0802145329
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Paperback. New. New Book; Fast Shipping from UK; Not signed; Not First Edition; "An entertaining history of baseball cards . . . An engaging book on a narrow but fascinating topic." -The Washington PostWhen award-winning journalist Dave Jamieson's parents sold his childhood home a few years ago, he rediscov
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

by Jamieson, Dave

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  • Paperback
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Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780802145321 / 0802145329
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Grove Press, 2011-04-12. paperback. New. 5.76x0.78x8.21. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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Mint Condition
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Mint Condition

by Jamieson, Dave

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780802145321 / 0802145329
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Grove Press. New. Special order direct from the distributor
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Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession
Stock photo: cover may vary

Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

by Jamieson, Dave

  • Used
  • Good
  • Paperback
Condition
Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780802145321 / 0802145329
Quantity available
1
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Description:
paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
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