Sports card collectors know the name Topps well. The company that has produced countless baseball cards and other sports trading cards, often packaged with a stick of chewing gum, also releases non-sports trading cards. One of their recent “vintage” collector’s card lines is an “Allen & Ginter” series, named after the Virginia company that produced the first cigarette trading cards.

Topps three Columbian Exposition trading cards from 2017

Earlier this year, Topps released a series of 20 World’s Fair cards in the “Allen & Ginter” line. Three of them show color images of the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Card #WF4 The Great Wharf shows the pier with the movable sidewalk, and states on the back that “millions enjoyed the lift — and the views — during the six-month celebration.” Card #WF15 Ferris Wheel depicts the great wheel of the Midway and notes that the popular 50-cent attraction “may have saved the World’s Columbian Exposition from financial ruin.” Finally, #WF18 Statue of the Republic portrays “Big Mary,” which the card notes “wore a crown of lights,” standing in the Court of Honor. We’ll come back to re-examine some of these claims in upcoming posts, but for now are enjoying this interesting modern collectible of the 1893 World’s Fair.

Topps “World’s Fair” trading cards can be purchased through many online dealers, including at:

https://www.beckett.com/baseball/2017/topps-allen-and-ginter-worlds-fair