We have a calendar at Trader Joe’s on which is listed — in addition to staff birthdays (yay!) — various “national days,” such as “National Chocolate Milk Day” or “National Cheesecake Day.” (Are there corresponding greeting cards for all the occasions?)
I’m betting that some of these are created by the industries which they encompass. Is that the case with “National Baseball Card Day,” which will be observed on Saturday, August 10? The New York Mets, for one, will hand out packs of cards to their patrons at the Aug. 11 game against the Washington Nationals, but I think that’s because the Aug. 10 contest is slated as Hawaiian Shirt Day; I don’t think there’s a holiday for that but I could be wrong.
I can’t tell if Topps is the creator of this idea, but they’re sure involved, as one would expect.
So in honor of NBCD, here are a few of my favorite books on the topic.
Tops has to be Topps Baseball Cards: The Complete Picture Collection (A 35-Year History, 1951-1985). How I wish they would update this but that would be a huge undertaking. The original is more than 700 pages, and that came out almost 35 years ago. Can you imagine the size of that monster now, especially when you consider than in the good old days, Topps only put out one set a year, as opposed to the thousands available now (only partly kidding). For examples of the myriad sets available, see the latest Beckett Guide.
- Game Faces: Early Baseball Cards from the Library of Congress
- Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession
- Cardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards
. How I wish they would update this but that would be a huge undertaking. The original is more than 700 pages, and that came out almost 35 years ago. Can you imagine the size of that monster now, especially when you consider than in the good old days, Topps only put out one set a year, as opposed to the thousands available now (only partly kidding). For examples of the myriad sets available, see the latest 
is available on Amazon.com,
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