Author: Nathan Burke

Last summer, I went to my parents’ house in upstate New York and my mother found a relic from my childhood: a box of sports cards from the 90s. Fast forward to now, and I have been having a blast collecting all kinds of cards and getting Maggie into Pokemon cards. We go to card shows, she’s on a first-name basis with our local card show owner, and she is a cutthroat trader. It’s so much fun.

One of my favorite sports is boxing. I’ve watched since I can remember (I may or may not have been around cable descramblers), and have vivid memories of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and Roy Jones Jr. fights. And when I started collecting cards again, I started to research boxing cards.

I recently found an Etsy store that had some early 1900s boxing cards, and picked up the 1938 Churchman’s Cigarettes Jack Johnson card.

Why I Love It

Jack Johnson is fascinating. A black heavyweight in the 1930s, Johnson has been called the best boxer of all time….and at times no one would fight him.

His personality has been well-documented, and is kind of a Yogi Berra of his time. One quote I’ve seen recently:

Who knows if that’s real….but I’ll just believe it.

The 1938 Churchman’s Cigarettes Jack Johnson ranges (right now) from ~$50 for a raw, fairly rough card to $600 as a graded 10.