1962 Jello Baseball Box

[brian1961]

Mike,

To save a long explanation, my editor, former Sports Collectors Digest editor in chief, Tom Bartsch, tried and tried to get it into paper print, but the cost at Amazon for a print on demand for just plain paper would have been about $72, and for all photo paper, $95.

So, the book is only available as an E-book on a CD for $30, whereby you would insert the disk into the disk drive of your computer and read it on your screen, or on Amazon as a digital download for only $9.99.

Believe me, Mike, at 480 pages, you're getting a load of information, a treasure trove of stories and anecdotes, and some good insight on these once-free prizes that always seemed to prove expensive at the time, kinda hard-to-very hard to get back in the day, and tough to get AND expensive today. Hence, my book's title---NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN. Oh yes, I almost forgot, there's also approx. 32 color photos (1 b&w), with at least one picture for each of the 20 chapters.

I do want to convey my thanks for sharing how you came to own those two prize pieces. They are .... tough to find the words .... the stuff that dreams are made of ..... for the regional / food rarity connoisseur.

Whatever you decide, bro, and I mean this, I am happy for you that you came to own them. You certainly must have taken good care of them once you bought them, and discovered them in the collection. Again, now that they're graded / encapsulated, they make marvelous display and conversation pieces. There's a boatload of '62-63 Topps baseball; you can count the number of essentially mint unfolded JELL-O boxes in one breath.

Best regards, my fellow collecting warrior. --- Brian Powell

[62corvette]

Brian,
In terms of scarcity, which year is harder to find in terms of unfolded boxes? 62 or 63? I have 3 unfolded 63’s I picked up in about 1974 or so. Warwick and 2 Osteens from different flavors.
Thanks

[58pinson]

So I'm reading along while not logged in and see Brian's "where did you get that precious Pinson unfolded box" comment!!! I'm drooling. If, by chance, you ever decide to put it on the market kindly keep the BST section here in mind.

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by 62corvette

Brian,
In terms of scarcity, which year is harder to find in terms of unfolded boxes? 62 or 63? I have 3 unfolded 63’s I picked up in about 1974 or so. Warwick and 2 Osteens from different flavors.
Thanks

Hey Mike E.

That is a tough question for which I could not begin to answer, but in m' own inimitable way, I have a few words to say. On the one hand, the 1962 JELL-Os were a test issue, marketed only in the Chicagoland area and Milwaukee. While the 1963 JELL-Os were a nationwide release, the matter of unfolded boxes will likely remain a mystery as to their existence. As I wrote in NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, either a workman at the company that printed the JELL-O boxes grabbed a few as souvenirs, or some were used for promotional purposes of some sort, or even a JELL-O promotions division meeting to discuss their test baseball card campaign, or in '63, their imminent coast to coast "free card" offering. Regardless, they were saved and not destroyed, fortunately. Mind you, no customers at the supermarkets would have had access to unfolded boxes. Never. At the time, such souvenirs were essentially worthless, anyway. In 1962-63, the adult baseball card hobby was tinzie-weenzie, and highly unorganized. The prices were minuscule. It took until the last year of the 60s for this to BEGIN to change.

As the adult baseball card hobby skyrocketed, and John Q. Public became aware that older baseball cards might be worth some money, little by little, those souvenirs saved in a drawer or box in a closet of personal "stuff", began to be dug out and brought to a baseball card show to sell. Someone like Mr. Mint Alan Rosen was always interested in rare, unusual pieces, especially if they were in pristine condition. He knew the dyed in the wool collector loved these sorts of items, as did Alan when he was a voracious collector. How would I know that? Alan Rosen told me so in the priceless phone interview he granted me when I was researching my book.

In fact, the pair of unfolded boxes I own were both purchased at the big Philly show in the fall of 1988, one of them from Mr. Mint himself. It cost a pretty penny then, but I had never heard of, nor seen, a virtually mint UNFOLDED 1962 JELL-O baseball card box. So intriguing. So unusual. What an escape from the conventional!

Love at first sight.

This was NOT the time to quibble, or haggle, or wait and sleep on it, to think about it. NO! I BOUGHT THAT GORGEOUS, ENORMOUSLY RARE '62 JELL-O UNFOLDED BOX RIGHT THEN AND THERE! I paid The Mint Man's price. Worth every penny I spent. It's now been almost 30 years later, and I still treasure it. The first box I bought that night, with none other than Mickey Mantle as the free prize card, wound up on the cover of NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN.

Sorry, here I get going with my enthusiasm for these babies!

Mike E., I'm sorry I cannot give you an answer. You'd have to scour old Mastro auction catalogs, and boxes of back-issues of Sports Collectors Digests from the late 70s til the late 90s. As you probably well remember, that's when SCD was thick---over 200 pages loaded with ads and great articles. Let me just say that I would scrutinize my SCDs back in the late 80s, cover to cover, looking for postwar regional / food rarities I did not have. Seldom-to-rarely would a year's worth of SCD back then contain an advertisement offering an unfolded JELL-O box. They were few to be had, and once offered and sold, they were regarded as prized pieces and special favorites that stayed in those collections for many years. I mean, the collector fortunate enough to own one jolly well understood that if he parted with it, he'd NEVER get it back, or likely see another again. That's an unusually hard thing for most collectors to grasp, since many haven't been in that situation, because they're usually concentrating on collecting mainstream gum or tobacco cards. When you get into postwar regional / food, you really escape the ordinary. It's a different world. Anybody can get a 1954 Topps Henry Aaron rookie. IF you've got the discretionary boo coo, there are literally hundreds of 1952 Topps Mickey Mantles out there, which is honestly very good for the hobby.

Back to Hank Aaron. Consider and ponder his 1967 Coca-Cola premium, as printed for them by Dexter Press. That huge card is one of The Hammer's finest, most breathtaking "free prizes" to be seen---a real gem. Sure, Hank's rookie is worth more, as is his '67 Topps, in top condition. Nevertheless, I would select Henry's '67 Coke premium in a heartbeat. At the time the '67 Coca-Cola premiums were issued, ONLY CONSUMERS IN GEORGIA WOULD HAVE HAD ACCESS TO COKE BOTTLES WITH ATLANTA BRAVE PLAYERS UNDER THE CAPS. YOU HAD TO SWILL LOTS OF COKE TO COLLECT ALMOST ALL OF THE BRAVES CAPS, TO REDEEM THEM AT A COCA-COLA BOTTLER FOR A DEXTER PRESS BRAVES TEAM SET OF 12, WHICH OF COURSE INCLUDED HAMMERIN' HANK AARON. Just an example. There's much more to the 1967 Coca-Cola premium story, but you'll have to buy NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN to find out. Sorry, but you know .....

Please excuse me; again, the author gets to waxing lyrical about his subject.

You may never get a concrete answer on which of the 2 years did the most JELL-O unfolded boxes survive. All you can do is continue to ask around, and get all sorts of opinions, or looks of "huh?" I seriously doubt anyone knows. Look for yourself at the major auction house catalogs, or even eBay, though I doubt checking eBay would turn up any, though there are certain eBay dealers that specialize in the postwar regional / food. However, one of them is known for his "museum prices". This is when he could truthfully chide you with the old dealer line, "Try to find another." You could go to the National at Cleveland this year, and wear yourself out walking the aisles, studying each table. There are a few dealers that specialize in just this sort of exotic rarity. Nevertheless, the thrill of the hunt will only be thrilling if you spot one. Be prepared mentally and psychologically for sticker shock.

Trust me, your JELL-O unfolded boxes are each genuinely rare, and fully worthy of the adjective.

Well, enough of my palabre.

Happy hunting, friend. --- Brian Powell

[Kenmarks]

A bit of a Johnny-come-lately, but great items and discussion Brian and Mike. My favorite set! So if I might, a couple of questions for you guys and a couple of other points that may be of some interest.

First a quick bit of background on myself and this set. Probably six years ago Dan Mabey and myself started an effort to build a document that tied the players in the set to the various flavors players they appeared on (by size of box also). And certainly Dan did most of the heavy lifting initially ... and led him to publish a listing on this site and another internet site of the findings. Believe this was back in 2013. Since that time, Dan's time has been extremely limited given all his work with the Ministries that he supports. But I have carried on the effort and perhaps maybe doubling the listing size. While I am not sure a complete listing will ever exist, will continue to chip away. During this time, I have spent time looking at the promotion itself. For example, while we all know that this issue was a "test" set; but what does that mean. Until the last few years, I just assumed it was as simple as the company was making a determination on whether cards on their boxes would increase sales. But it has become clear that their testing was much more complex with the things they were looking during the promotion.

So it is with this background and perhaps gaining more information, I would like to ask you guys about these flats you have or have seen. So Brian if I might (and how have you been since it seems we "talk" every couple of years), I would like to find out more about the cards you talk about in this thread and your book. We certainly have talked a decent amount your Mantle (WONDERFUL PIECE!!). So questions:

Is the second flat you mention you have in this thread the Maris that in your book you talk about and seemed to have bought at that the Philly show in 88 (and which is a Blackberry flavor)? Your book also talks about a large Pascual Strawberry flat and a small T. Davis Strawberry flat you had seen in auctions. I am just wondering if you have other 62 Jell-O boxes where I could learn of the player appearing on the box to correlate with the size/flavor (the four cards discussed about are all presently on my player-to-flavor listing).

For Mike, have a simpler question. I believe the Warwick flat you are talking about is a 63 Jell-O, but just want to make sure. Also might you have knowledge or specimens of other 62 players where you know which flavors they appeared on. And I guess another question whether we have "met" on the internet before (Being I struggle with knowing exactly who is who and all you know if a persons user name for the site, so just wondering.)

I know this is long, but am going to make one observation that may be helpful to you guys in tracking the history of your flats. Within the hobby there are copies of a very old advertisement for 1962 Jell-O flats. I probably have had it for 20 years and looks like it is a copy of a copy of a copy....... It is an ad run by Lew Lipset where he is selling like 85 1962 Jell-O flats. The ad shows player, flavor on, and price he wants. (It does not show size but I would bet a ton they are all small boxes and none pudding, just based on what I have seen over the years). What is interesting is every small box discussed on this thread (Mantle, Maris, Pinson, Davis including the flavor) is on on Lew's ad for sale. I certainly suspect that your flats may have gone back to this sale by Lew. For what it is worth, it is my understanding that Lew made sales of about half these flats then wholesaled the remainder to a collector who has slowly sold them himself over the years.

Going to call it a day with this note, but would also as anyone else reading this, if they know a box flavor a player appeared on (and hopefully a picture) would love to know. Ken Marks bwnrot@aol.com

[Baseballcrazy62]

I posted a picture of this a while back. You are correct in that it is a large box 63 Jello.

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by Kenmarks

A bit of a Johnny-come-lately, but great items and discussion Brian and Mike. My favorite set! So if I might, a couple of questions for you guys and a couple of other points that may be of some interest.

So it is with this background and perhaps gaining more information, I would like to ask you guys about these flats you have or have seen. So Brian if I might (and how have you been since it seems we "talk" every couple of years), I would like to find out more about the cards you talk about in this thread and your book. We certainly have talked a decent amount your Mantle (WONDERFUL PIECE!!). So questions:

Is the second flat you mention you have in this thread the Maris that in your book you talk about and seemed to have bought at that the Philly show in 88 (and which is a Blackberry flavor)? Your book also talks about a large Pascual Strawberry flat and a small T. Davis Strawberry flat you had seen in auctions. I am just wondering if you have other 62 Jell-O boxes where I could learn of the player appearing on the box to correlate with the size/flavor (the four cards discussed about are all presently on my player-to-flavor listing).

For Mike, have a simpler question. I believe the Warwick flat you are talking about is a 63 Jell-O, but just want to make sure. Also might you have knowledge or specimens of other 62 players where you know which flavors they appeared on. And I guess another question whether we have "met" on the internet before (Being I struggle with knowing exactly who is who and all you know if a persons user name for the site, so just wondering.)

I know this is long, but am going to make one observation that may be helpful to you guys in tracking the history of your flats. Within the hobby there are copies of a very old advertisement for 1962 Jell-O flats. I probably have had it for 20 years and looks like it is a copy of a copy of a copy....... It is an ad run by Lew Lipset where he is selling like 85 1962 Jell-O flats. The ad shows player, flavor on, and price he wants. (It does not show size but I would bet a ton they are all small boxes and none pudding, just based on what I have seen over the years). What is interesting is every small box discussed on this thread (Mantle, Maris, Pinson, Davis including the flavor) is on on Lew's ad for sale. I certainly suspect that your flats may have gone back to this sale by Lew. For what it is worth, it is my understanding that Lew made sales of about half these flats then wholesaled the remainder to a collector who has slowly sold them himself over the years.

Going to call it a day with this note, but would also as anyone else reading this, if they know a box flavor a player appeared on (and hopefully a picture) would love to know. Ken Marks bwnrot@aol.com

Wow, Ken, I should have known you would come to our buddy's rescue with some genuine information, to go with the accurate conjecture. I will be trying to call you soon, my dear fellow collecting warrior. We've got issues at the house---A/C on the fritz!!!!!!!!!

Very late to answer you, but yes, the other 1962 JELL-O unfolded box I own is a Blackberry Roger Maris. Truly, it is one of the prized pieces of my small collection. I do not own any other complete boxes, but am extremely thankful to God that I own the two I do.

Since the dealer I bought it from at Philly fall 88 worked with Alan Rosen, it would not surprise me if the Mantle & Maris were once a part of the huge batch you wrote of that Lew Lipset offered. "The stuff dreams are made of" indeed.

Ken, are you working with Dan Mabey on his 1962 JELL-O baseball card research / book project? I want to let Dan know he can use anything from my book he wishes. I figured he'd love my story from summer of '62 when I saw a whole slew of them at the Jewel Supermarket. Sad story.

Kindest regards to you, Ken. --- Brian Powell

[Kenmarks]

Hey Brian. Hope that A/C problem gets fixed. Always goes out in the summer, huh.

Related to 62 Jell-O research, that continues for me. Maybe five years ago, Dan and myself started a 1962 Jell-O set effort trying to build a listing of the various flavors that players appeared on ... since there was no manufacturer's listing known in the hobby. During that next year (with Dan doing most of the heavy lifting), a listing of players who had been identified as appearing on a specific flavor of Jell-O was produced. Dan published that listing in maybe 2014, and it can be found on this Net54 website and also another one. Forget the name of the other website, but it is not hard to find.

Since that time, Dan's time has been extremely limited given all his various ministerial work that he does. Just a matter of priorities for him and sportscards rightly are not at the top of heap. But I have continued the effort and probably added maybe another 100 entries to the player/flavor chart. Beyond that, have put work in on trying to understand the promotion itself. For example, it seems certain to me that every player appeared on at least one Jell-O Gelatin flavor box. In addition to that, I believe that 72 players appeared on at least one Jell-O Pudding flavor box (I have identified 68 players to date, but am pretty confident there are 72). As probably obvious, players that also appeared on pudding boxes are not tough to find if working on a set ... with a lot of them being stars. Have also built a listing of the 20 toughest players to acquire in the set (and circulated the listing through to hobby to other collector friends of this set for validation). Additionally have been trying to build a listing of exactly the Jell-O gelatin flavors that had cards appearing on them in the set ... including size of the box too. Finally the other thing that comes to mind is the development of a possible explanation of why the three players were completely left out of the set while appearing in both the American and Canadian Post Cereal sets (Brooks Robinson, Kluszewski, and Burgess) and one other star player (Colavito) was substituted for a journeyman player in the set. While this could be because of contracting issues as sometimes suggested, it also appears to me to perhaps have been an intentional change.

I guess bottom-line, will say progress is slow for a number of reasons, especially lack of documentation and just general limited availability of cards. But will continue on when I find collectors such as yourself who are able contribute valuable data. This probably has goon too long so will say good night and hope things continue well with you.

[Baseballcrazy62]

Just back from PSA. Sorry about the poor picture quality.3BF59F64-82C6-4CB7-A338-240F099BE7B9.jpg

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[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by brian1961

Mike,

To save a long explanation, my editor, former Sports Collectors Digest editor in chief, Tom Bartsch, tried and tried to get it into paper print, but the cost at Amazon for a print on demand for just plain paper would have been about $72, and for all photo paper, $95.

So, the book is only available as an E-book on a CD for $30, whereby you would insert the disk into the disk drive of your computer and read it on your screen, or on Amazon as a digital download for only $9.99.

Believe me, Mike, at 480 pages, you're getting a load of information, a treasure trove of stories and anecdotes, and some good insight on these once-free prizes that always seemed to prove expensive at the time, kinda hard-to-very hard to get back in the day, and tough to get AND expensive today. Hence, my book's title---NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN. Oh yes, I almost forgot, there's also approx. 32 color photos (1 b&w), with at least one picture for each of the 20 chapters.

I do want to convey my thanks for sharing how you came to own those two prize pieces. They are .... tough to find the words .... the stuff that dreams are made of ..... for the regional / food rarity connoisseur.

Whatever you decide, bro, and I mean this, I am happy for you that you came to own them. You certainly must have taken good care of them once you bought them, and discovered them in the collection. Again, now that they're graded / encapsulated, they make marvelous display and conversation pieces. There's a boatload of '62-63 Topps baseball; you can count the number of essentially mint unfolded JELL-O boxes in one breath.

Best regards, my fellow collecting warrior. --- Brian Powell

Not meaning to side track the discussion, but just wanted to give an endorsement of Brian's book. I very much enjoyed reading it. Well done

-Z

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

Not meaning to side track the discussion, but just wanted to give an endorsement of Brian's book. I very much enjoyed reading it. Well done

-Z

Good morning, Zach. I chanced to read your comment last evening. I was humbled with your kindness, and am not ashamed to say I lost my composure for a few minutes. I am so glad you enjoyed my book. Thanks again. --- Brian Powell