Supersisters


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.
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. 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.
Of those who did respond, they included the first 72 in the trading card set, including Jane Pauley, Margaret Mead, and Gloria Steinem. By 1981, they reported that they had sold 15,000 trading card sets, selling many to schools and colleges.
Reaction to the cards was largely positive, though some later critics called the cards "misguided" and "trivial".
Sets of the trading cards are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the University of Iowa library.
Card #NameOccupation
1Olympic skier
2journalist
3US Congresswoman
4US Senator
5banker
6rabbi
7author
8US Congresswoman
9singer
10author
11actress
12journalist
13author
14lawyer, US cabinet level secretary
15chair of Republican National Committee
16anthropologist
17Olympic swimmer
18actress
19tennis player
20politician
21US Congresswoman
22New York State Senator
23journalist
24First female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline.
25US Congresswoman
26author
27civil rights pioneer
28US Congresswoman
29flautist
30skier
31poet
32author
33US Congresswoman
34singer-songwriter
35National Organization for Women president
36gymnast
37surfer
38entertainer
39US Congresswoman
40composer and choreographer
41advertising
42newspaper publisher
43actress
44actress
45author, runner
46runner
47Olympic skier
48tennis player
49federal judge, US cabinet level secretary
50gymnast
51film director
52journalist
53race car driver
54pilot
55actress
56advertising
57television executive
58skier
59gymnast
60journalist
61lawyer
62author
63gymnast
64Olympic gymnast
65Olympic equestrian
66singer
67roller skater
68Olympic swimmer
69actress
70actress
71US Congresswoman
72poet