1954 NY Journal American
 

Picked up a nice Jackie Robinson yesterday from this "set".

Don't know much about it other than the year and format of distribution (provided to newspaper vendors who presumably gave them away.)

Does any one know any more history, like whether they were popular at the time, whether there was a big "warehouse find" from where the majority of today's population comes from, whether collectors consider them real cards or novelties (though I know you should always "collect what you like")

Any thoughts appreciated, thanks, mike

A new member was just approved today, who has some great info, and I think he will share it. He collected them as a kid and still has them, :).

Nice pickup! This set is a personal favorite of mine, mostly due to it's amazing assortment of players. I'm by no means an expert on this set, but hopefully there's one on the board that can help you, but I'll tell you as much as I can. I'm sure you know (as it says on the card) that these were "contest cards" of sorts and you could win money if your serial number matched the winning one. From what I've seen there has been no exceptional finds of these, but I'm sure there have been many smaller finds of the cards. The cards are not hard to find in mint condition. There serial numbers at the bottom of the card determine the color of the word "OFFERS" on the front, it can be either red or black, I haven't heard of one being rarer than the other. Cards from 000000 to 099999 have the black "OFFERS," 100000 to 150000 have either color and past 150000+ is in red.

Hope some of this info helps,

Owen

thanks owen - super helpful

Was going for the same card (PSA 6?) - lost track of time, and missed out. Nice get.

Yes, it's the PSA 6 from Probstein. I am looking forward to getting it in hand.

I also am doing a lot of Robinson collecting recently and this is a nice one that combined relative scarcity with relative affordability

I don't know if our new registrant will make it onto the board but I will take the liberty of cutting and pasting and keeping him anonymous for now.
I am sure he would want to help collectors out...

Good afternoon — My name is JB from Saratoga Springs NY and a collector of baseball cards for almost 65 years. I do not formally belong to any online sport cards groups, but have traded with 5 or 6 members of Vintage Card Traders, at least one of which I believe is a member of your group.

I have been a “lurker" for many years reading your many interesting threads, and at times I wished I could have provided some insight into my experiences — a kid buying and trading primarily baseball cards in the 1950s. Recently, someone made the case that perhaps rubber band damage on cards may not always have been for #1 (or the last card) in the set. I would concur as my brothers, friends and I would always arrange our cards by teams, not by numbers, and not until 1956 with checklists did we even know how many cards were in the set.

Today I saw a post about NY Journal American “cards.” I remember them distinctly having grown up in the Hartford CT area. I believe they were placed loosely in the newspaper. If a person was not careful, they easily fell out of the newspaper. I remember finding them in bushes where paper trash blew near the store where I bought Topps and Bowman cards. I still have some of those NY Journal American cards.

So, I am interested in becoming a member of Net 54 forum, as perhaps I can share some first-hand knowledge of card-collecting in the 1950s. I do not pretend to be a guru like some of your other members; I am just a guy who enjoyed and still enjoys card collecting. Please let me know what it takes to become a member.

Thanks.

JB

Owen,

Interesting...never knew that. Thanks for sharing.

Z

Thanks for passing along, Leon. JB, thanks for the information and cool story about the 1954 NY Journal American cards. I'd love to find a few of them today in some bushes! It's also fascinating to hear that you've kept some of them in your collection all this time.

1954 NY Journal American Cards
 

I am Jim B that Leon referred to earlier in this thread, and I am looking forward to participating more fully on this forum.
As for 1954 NY Journal American "cards," I do remember them. They are on heavy paper stock, not cardboard. They had a black and white photo of a Yankee, Giant or Dodger on the front and the 1954 team schedule on the back. On the front were also a number and information on how to win cash if your number appeared in the newspaper (so you had to keep buying the newspaper).
The cards were either handed out to buyers of the newspaper or inserted in the newspaper. In either case, I remember that buyers either threw them away or they fell out of the newspaper. I retrieved many of them as they blew into bushes outside the drug store near Hartford CT where I bought primarily Topps baseball cards. No one really collected them that I was aware of, especially with the cool-looking 1954 Topps cards and even the Bowman cards. But I liked anything with a baseball player's image on it, so I would look for them, and still own a few today. Sold a great looking Mantle about 20 years ago.
Are they cards? Some may say yes, some no, but they are an interesting issue.