Scope and Contents

This collection is divided into two main series, Series 1, Sports; and Series 2, Non-Sports.

Series 1, Sports, comprises more than 90% of the collection. Within Series 1, the collection is divided into seven subseries:

Subseries 1.1: Baseball;

Subseries 1.2: Football;

Subseries 1.3: Hockey;

Subseries 1.4: Basketball;

Subseries 1.5: Other Sports;

Subseries 1.6: Sports programs, schedules and other paper ephemera; toys, souvenirs and novelty items;

Subseries 1.7: Sports card packaging.

Subseries 1.1 is the largest, with baseball cards making up approximately 70% of the entire Korda collection. Within the first three subseries, the cards are further subdivided into cards in sets, which are sleeved, and cards in packs, which are stored in card-sized boxes. Subseries D and E are in packs only. Both cards in sets and in packs have been arranged alphabetically by manufacturer, and thereunder, chronologically. Within sets, cards are arranged in numerical order by card number. In cases where, for baseball cards, titles of sets were unclear or ambiguous, the reference book (which in this finding aid will be referred to as ) was used to determine how card sets should be titled. Likewise, in the rare cases in which cards were not numbered within sets, the order used was that given in In the case of football and hockey, and were used as reference guides.

Series 2: Non-Sports, is arranged into twenty three subseries:

Subseries 2.1: Mass Media and Entertainment

Subseries 2.2: Education

Subseries 2.3: Comic Books and Strips

Subseries 2.4: Toys and action figures

Subseries 2.5: Literature

Subseries 2.6: Automotive Themes

Subseries 2.7: Crime and Law Enforcement

Subseries H: Military Topics

Subseries 2.8: Biography

Subseries 2.9: Fine Arts

Subseries 2.10: Adult Themes

Subseries 2.11: Beauty Contests

Subseries 2.12: Video Games

Subseries 2.13: Parodies

Subseries 2.14: Product Advertising

Subseries 2.15: Fantasy Art

Subseries 2.16: Monsters

Subseries 2.17: Card Games

Subseries 2.18: Stickers, patches and tattoos

Subseries 2.19: Toys, games, puzzles, post cards and posters

Subseries 2.20: Pogs, caps and gum wrappers

Subseries 2.21: Oversize of above topics

Subseries 2.22: Non-card items, relating to above topics

Subseries 2.1, Mass media and entertainment, is the largest of the non-sports categories, comprising movies, television and music. Other subseries are similarly subdivided. Unlike the majority of the sports cards, the non-sports cards are stored in small, card-sized cartons, which have been assigned the letters A through DD, and are stored in 4 Paige boxes and 1 document box. They are listed here according to titles of packs.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into two series.

Biographical note

Ronald Korda, an employee of NBC television and a man of modest, middle class means, began assembling his card collection in childhood after receiving a pack of cards as a party favor. After that initial inspiration, he began his collecting hobby which was his passion until his death in March, 1996. In the early years of his hobby, he collected baseball cards, later expanding to other sports as well as cards on diverse popular culture topics. Among these topics are films, television, popular music, science and nature, comics and magazines, toys and action figures, games, and products, and in addition to cards, there are stickers, sticker albums, tattoos, gum wrappers, puzzles, games and other novelty items. Numerous foreign issues are included. He amassed his collection by attending cards and collectibles shows and seeking out reputable dealers, and by purchasing factory sets when they became available. He was selective and careful, and in the case of the sports cards, succeeded in acquiring complete sets of virtually every series which he collected. (With the non-sports cards, he tended to collect samples rather than entire sets.) This thoroughness is what makes this collection rare and possibly unique among any card collections in public or private hands. With few exceptions, there are no cards missing, and virtually all are in mint or near mint condition. The Kordas could have sold their collection for a fortune, but felt it important that the collection stay together as a unit. Mr. Korda, in an emotional article entitled "Collections Should Live Forever" written for , referred to his collection as "my card family" and expressed the fear that the family would be split up after he died. He approached the Smithsonian late in 1995. Just days before the Archives Center was to acquire the collection, Mr. Korda died. Finalization of his gift was completed by his wife.