Kids, especially boys, would put the cards in their bicycle spokes to make that clacking noise (but, of course, ruining the card. And then there was all the trading of cards "I'll give you two Mickey Mantles for your Willie Mays." Most boys quit collecting and eventually their moms through them out or sold them at garage sales (as in my case).
Scarcity of the earlier cards as such led to the cards being looked to as investments, especially in the 1980s. For example, the T206 Honus Wagner and 1952 Mickey Mantle cards became extremely valuable. Last week. a 1952 Mickey Mantle sold at auction for $268,664!! Wonder how many were thrown into the Atlantic.
Other companies like Fleer, Donrus and Bowman got into the game. By the 1980s, baseball cards were so popular that the gum was dropped.
A word about that gum. My experience was always that you needed a hammer to break it, then could cut gashes in your mouth while trying to soften it up to chew. Them, in addition, it was sickenly sweet.
I didn't like the gum, but had paid for it so went ahead and chomped down.
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