By looking at them, you can tell a lot, especially from the 1850s
, 1860s, and 1870s. You could tell they're all different, especially the 1860s and earlier, because the stitching was very different. It wasn't the figure 8 seam that we're familiar with today. They tend to be darker-looking, mostly due to wear, although they didn't have the bright white and red stitching that we have today. Baseball card collection is a great hobby in these days.