Collecting card:Batman #18 Robin in Action

The Topps Company, Inc. began in 1938 with the manufacture of chewing gum, then sold by the individual piece. In 1950 the firm added a Hopalong Cassidy trading card to stiffen the packaging. Two years later baseball cards appeared and began their meteoric climb into the hearts of American children and adults. Since then, Topps secured the rights to produce cards commemorating many kinds of cultural phenomena, from the Beatles to Batman, and sports cards for nearly every major sport.

In tune with the highest-rated prime-time television program of 1966, Topps produced several series of Batman collecting cards. The comic book-like iillustrations have characters that resemble the major stars of the program. These included Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin, and Lee Meriweather as Catwoman.