The first cards that come to mind for this thread are the '53 Bowman Color Stan Musial and the '56 Topps Mickey Mantle, but I don't own either of those.
Seems like the further you go back in card issue, the tougher it is to find someone smiling. For example, how many T206's show the player smiling, even among the portraits? Not many.
Pre-war
and post-war
