Brian
People get carried too far away with the COPYRIGHT dates. They simply tell us when the player's Biographies were created.
LEAF first produced their PIRATE set in 1948 (Pirate movies were very popular in the 1940's). I clearly remember acquiring many of these colorful cards during
the Summer of 1948.
In early Fall of 1948, LEAF issued their 50 card
* set of BOXERS. This set was so popular, that LEAF continued into 1949 printing up more of these BOXER cards
in the beginning of 1949.
In the Fall of 1948, LEAF issued their FOOTBALL set of 98 cards.....in 2 series of 49 cards each.
Then in early Spring of 1949, LEAF issued their 1st series of BB cards. These cards preceded the 1949 BOWMAN cards by a month (or two) in my neighborhood.
Their 2nd series (49 cards) of cards were issued during the Summer of 1949 (in limited regions of the US).
In the Fall of 1949, LEAF issued their FOOTBALL set of 49 cards
* Note....card #50, Rocky Graziano, was removed (he did not like his image).
TED Z
T206 Reference
.