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

Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia

Barrington Passage is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Barrington municipal district of Shelburne County.-History:...

. Formerly an employee of Beemans

Beemans gum

Beemans gum is a chewing gum invented by Ohio physician Dr. Edward E. Beeman in the late 19th century.-History:...

, 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.

William Wrigley Jr.

William Wrigley Jr. was a U.S. chewing gum industrialist. He was founder and eponym of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 dubbed him the "penny gum king of America". Today the Goudey name is mainly associated with its collectible baseball card

Baseball card

A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...

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.)

Goudey baseball cards

Most of the unreleased cards, printing plates, 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

Hank Greenberg

Henry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg , nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank" or "The Hebrew Hammer," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation...

 and Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig

Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...

 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: Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb

Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...

, Jimmie Foxx

Jimmie Foxx

James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....

, Bill Dickey

Bill Dickey

William Malcolm Dickey was a Major League Baseball catcher and manager.He played his entire 19-year baseball career with the New York Yankees . During Dickey's playing career, the Yankees went to the World Series nine times, winning eight championships...

, Carl Hubbell

Carl Hubbell

Carl Owen Hubbell was an American baseball player. He was a member of the New York Giants in the National League from 1928 to 1943, and remained on the Giants' payroll for the rest of his life, long after their move to San Francisco.Twice voted the National League's Most Valuable Player, Hubbell...

, Lefty Grove

Lefty Grove

Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove was a 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 Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, winning 300 games in his 17-year MLB career...

, Dizzy Dean

Dizzy Dean

Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953....

, Mickey Cochrane

Mickey Cochrane

Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane was a professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers...

, Charlie Gehringer

Charlie Gehringer

Charles Leonard Gehringer , nicknamed “The Mechanical Man,” was a German-American Major League Baseball second baseman who played 19 seasons for the Detroit Tigers...

, Tony Lazzeri

Tony Lazzeri

Anthony Michael "Tony" Lazzeri was an American Major League Baseball player during the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly with the New York Yankees. He was part of the famed "Murderers' Row" Yankee batting lineup of the late 1920s , along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Bob Meusel...

, Mel Ott

Mel Ott

Melvin Thomas Ott , nicknamed "Master Melvin", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire career for the New York Giants . Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed...

, Joe Dimaggio

Joe DiMaggio

Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...

, Hank Greenberg

Hank Greenberg

Henry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg , nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank" or "The Hebrew Hammer," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation...

, "Ducky" Joe Medwick

Joe Medwick

Joseph Michael Medwick , nicknamed "Ducky", was an American Major League Baseball player. A left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals during the "Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also played for the Brooklyn Dodgers , New York Giants , and Boston Braves...

 and Moe Berg

Moe Berg

Morris "Moe" Berg was an American catcher and coach in Major League Baseball who later served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II...

.

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

The tobacco card set known as T206 was issued from 1909 to 1911 in cigarette and loose tobacco packs through 16 different brands owned by the American Tobacco Company...

 and 1952 Topps

Topps

The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...

 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

Honus Wagner

-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....

 and Eddie Plank

Eddie Plank

Edward Stewart Plank , nicknamed "Gettysburg Eddie", was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He is the first left-handed pitcher to win 200 games and then 300 games, and now ranks third in all-time wins among left-handers with 326 career victories and first all-time in career shutouts by a...

.

1934 set

In 1934, Goudey produced a 96 card set that was endorsed by two players, Lou Gehrig and Hank Greenberg. The 1934 Goudey set is sometimes called the "Lou Gehrig" set. Interestingly, 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

Bob Feller

On December 8, 1941, Feller enlisted in the Navy, volunteering immediately for combat service, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to do so following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. Feller served as Gun Captain aboard the USS Alabama, and missed four seasons during his service...

 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

Granby, Quebec

Granby is a city in southwestern Quebec, located east of Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 47,637. Granby is the seat of La Haute-Yamaska Regional County Municipality. It is the fifth most populated city in Montérégie after Longueuil, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Brossard and...

. 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

The American Card Catalog

The American Card Catalog is a reference book for American trade cards produced before 1951, compiled by Jefferson Burdick.It has become the de facto method in identifying and organizing trade cards produced in the Americas pre-1951. The book catalogues sports and non-sports cards, but is best...

:

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.