Message from the Owner:

 

On Her Mark, get set, go!  My deep passion for women's sports and  visual images inspired On Her Mark. Pictures are powerful and inspirational. A picture might say 1,000 words but if you know the history, the story is much richer.

 

In 1994 I completed a Masters thesis about the representation of women's sports in newspapers. It was around that time that I found my first vintage women's trading card. Bubbles of excitement rushed through my body and I knew I was onto something special, I just didn't know what.

 

Over the past two decades, I have acquired one of the largest collections of vintage women's sports cards in the world. The collection ranges from the1850s to 1972 with the passage of Title IX in the US. While these cards are not the only items we offer, they are the inspiration for many of the products at On Her Mark. 

 

We are passionate about the representation of women in sports. We love sharing stories about women that followed their dreams even when society told them to behave differently. 

 

This site is a way to tell their stories through blogs, merchandise and authentic memorabilia. When we create an item, we ask ourselves:  Is it authentic?  Is it educational? Is it empowering?  This is what makes us different than your typical memorabilia site.  

~ Cindy Dick

 

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Cindy was a competitive track and field athlete in high school, played volleyball in college, and now swims and bicycle tours.  

 

More About the Cards

 

What the cards tell us is that the love for playing sports transcended the societal rules that told women they should not compete.  Most of  the background pictures on this web page are from vintage cards.  A few key examples are:

 

  Babe Didrikson, whose driving goal was to be the best athlete in the world, despite the overwhelming message to be lady-like and not athletic. Her crowning achievements included being a three-time track and field Olympic medalist in 1932 (two gold and a tie that led to silver), setting world records, and being a co-founder of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.

 

  Althea Gibson's talent on the tennis court transcended racism in the 1950s. She went from playing on courts that didn't allow "colored" people within their fences to becoming the number one tennis player in the world; winning the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open (1956, 1957, 1958 respectively).  While she downplayed being an activist, she was the first female African American player to break the color barrier.  

 

These rarely seen cards tell their stories in ways that many people have never seen before.  Cards were a collectible medium and one of the few paper sources that showed women in sports, outside of the scarce newspaper article or promotional poster.  

 

The women on these cards can be role models to our young girls today.  They can teach them to dream big, to never give up, and to work towards what they know they can be. The promotion of women's sports has been our driving force and these cards provide both a focus and a medium.  They tell the historical story in a fascinating and fun way.