[Volod]

Sorry this post is so late in coming, didn't find it until now. I collected the 1954 set, which I found in cellophane wrapped cookie packs that year. The odd thing about it, and something that has puzzled me for years, is that it was generally accepted within the hobby that the Johnston card sets were only distributed in Wisconsin, or perhaps adjoining states. In 1954, however, I was nine years old and living in upstate New York, so I know that the distribution was at least that far east. Since the Braves were my favorite team at the time, I bought way more cookies than I should have trying to find players like Matthews and Aaron. Not that the stuff wasn't worth it - still remember the shortbread with chocolate fudge stripping, similar to something Keebler still sells. But, I never could find stars in the packages, just commons and coaches - maybe Johnston had a sneaky system of keeping the desirable cards in local distribution and fobbing off the lesser cards on distant markets. It wasn't until thirty years later that I discovered the set actually contained Spahn, Aaron, Matthews and the scarce Thomson. Hope this recollection is of some help if you haven't published your article by now.