How did sticker albums come about?
The World Cup sticker album has been the best-selling book in Brazil for several consecutive weeks, totaling tens of thousands of units sold each week. Fever, which is part of the emotional memory of generations, has a history that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.
The origins of stickers
Before there were albums, stickers appeared - and they didn't come in the packaging that the public knows today. In 1919, they were distributed inside candy wrappers, called sport candy. It was only in 1934 that stickers with players from the Brazilian team began to circulate, already focusing on the World Cup.
The emergence of the album
The idea for the album itself emerged in 1938, but it was only in 1950 that the first World Cup album was actually released. The gap between 1938 and 1950 is explained by the cancellation of two editions of the tournament due to the Second World War. The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, transformed the albums into a true popular phenomenon, even with the Brazilian team's defeat in the final against Uruguay.
Evolution over the decades
As the years went by, the fever grew. At certain times, people even received rewards for completing albums, which made some of them almost impossible to complete. In 1982, the stickers were sold together with gum, the popular ping-pong gum, requiring a large consumption of the product to gather all the necessary images.
It was only in 1990 that Panini arrived in Brazil, initially in partnership with Editora Abril, and since then has carried out this tradition that brings together people of all ages in the country and around the world. For the current edition of the World Cup, the album is the largest ever produced in the history of the competition, following the growth of the tournament itself.
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Source: CNN