Supersisters was a set of 72 trading cards produced and distributed in the United States in 1979 by Supersisters, Inc. They featured famous women from politics, media and entertainment, culture, sports, and other areas of achievement. The cards were designed in response to the trading cards popular among children in the US at the time, which mostly featured men.[1]
The cards were created by Lois Rich of Irvington, New York and her sister Barbara Egerman of Ridgefield, Connecticut, a teacher, librarian, and founder of the Ohio chapter of the National Organization for Women. They conceived of the cards in 1978, after Rich's young daughter asked her why there were no women on trading cards. Rich also discovered that students at a local elementary school could not name five famous women. Rich and Egerman received a small grant from the New York State Education Department and wrote to nearly 500 prominent American women in various fields.[1][2][3] They purposely did not contact a number of notable women, including Anita Bryant, Angela Davis, Phyllis Schlafly, and the cast of Charlie's Angels. Jane Fonda, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, and Ella T. Grasso were among those who did not respond or declined to participate.[4][5] Of those who did respond, they included the first 72 in the trading card set, including Jane Pauley, Margaret Mead, and Gloria Steinem.[4][5] By 1981, they reported that they had sold 15,000 trading card sets, selling many to schools and colleges.[2]
Reaction to the cards was largely positive, though some later critics called the cards "misguided" and "trivial".[6][7]
Sets of the trading cards are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the University of Iowa library.[7][8]
Card #[9]
Name[9]
Occupation
1
Suzy Chaffee
Olympic skier
2
Nancy Dickerson
journalist
3
Pat Schroeder
US Congresswoman
4
Margaret Chase Smith
US Senator
5
Lynn D. Salvage
banker
6
Sally J. Priesand
rabbi
7
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
author
8
Bella S. Abzug
US Congresswoman
9
Helen Reddy
singer
10
Lois Gould
author
11
Sonia Manzano
actress
12
Helen Thomas
journalist
13
Virginia Hamilton
author
14
Carla Anderson Hills
lawyer, US cabinet level secretary
15
Mary Louise Smith
chair of Republican National Committee
16
Margaret Mead
anthropologist
17
Wendy Boglioli
Olympic swimmer
18
Julie Harris
actress
19
Rosie Casals
tennis player
20
Elly Peterson
politician
21
Mary Rose Oakar
US Congresswoman
22
Linda Winikow
New York State Senator
23
Lucinda Franks
journalist
24
Bonnie Tiburzi
First female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline.
25
Leonor K. Sullivan
US Congresswoman
26
Caroline Bird
author
27
Rosa Parks
civil rights pioneer
28
Helen Stevenson Meyner
US Congresswoman
29
Doriot Anthony Dwyer
flautist
30
Lindy Cochran
skier
31
Maxine Kumin
poet
32
Gloria Steinem
author
33
Gladys Noon Spellman
US Congresswoman
34
Malvina Reynolds
singer-songwriter
35
Eleanor Cutri Smeal
National Organization for Women president
36
Ann Carr
gymnast
37
Laura Lee Ching
surfer
38
Shari Lewis
entertainer
39
Barbara A. Mikulski
US Congresswoman
40
Meredith Monk
composer and choreographer
41
Barbara Gardner Proctor
advertising
42
Katharine Graham
newspaper publisher
43
Ruby Dee
actress
44
Marlo Thomas
actress
45
Kathrine Switzer
author, runner
46
Miki Gorman
runner
47
Barbara Ann Cochran
Olympic skier
48
Wendy Turnbull
tennis player
49
Shirley M. Hufstedler
federal judge, US cabinet level secretary
50
Kathy Johnson
gymnast
51
Claudia Weill
film director
52
Jane Pauley
journalist
53
Janet Guthrie
race car driver
54
Debbie Gary Callier
pilot
55
Jane Alexander
actress
56
Jane Trahey
advertising
57
Jane Cahill Pfeiffer
television executive
58
Cindy Nelson
skier
59
Rhonda Schwandt
gymnast
60
Jane Bryant Quinn
journalist
61
Sarah Weddington
lawyer
62
Robin Morgan
author
63
Jackie Cassello
gymnast
64
Cathy Rigby Mason
Olympic gymnast
65
Melanie Smith
Olympic equestrian
66
Buffy Sainte-Marie
singer
67
Natalie Dunn
roller skater
68
Cathy Carr
Olympic swimmer
69
Leslie Uggams
actress
70
Helen Hayes
actress
71
Shirley Chisholm
US Congresswoman
72
Ntozake Shange
poet
^ abFerritti, Fred (March 9, 1980). "Success was in the Cards". New York Times. pp. WC10.
^ abHaitch, Richard (October 25, 1981). "Follow-Up on the News; 'Supersisters'". New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
^Irwin, Victoria (February 20, 1980). "'I'll trade you a Pete Rose for your Jane Pauley'". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
^ ab
Baranski, Lynne (April 7, 1980). "Hey, I'll Swap Ya a Stargell for a Steinem! A Sister Team Creates Female Trading Cards That Flip the Kids". People. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016.
^ ab"Feminine trading cards are big rage". The Day. Associated Press. November 10, 1980. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
^Levy, Alan H. (December 5, 2013). The Political Life of Bella Abzug, 1976–1998: Electoral Failures and the Vagaries of Identity Politics. Lexington Books. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-7391-8725-8.
^ abDorpinghaus, Sarah (April 8, 2008). "IDL staff pick: Supersisters trading cards, 1979". Digital Research & Publishing, University of Iowa Libraries. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
^Zanis, Liz (April 3, 2014). "Collecting Inspiration with Supersisters". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
^ abThe entire Supersisters card set is viewable online at the University of Iowa Digital Libraries at http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/founders/id/4267/rec/1
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