Question on 1948 Bowman Baseball distribution

[G1911]

I'm almost finished with my 1948 Bowman set, and have been wondering about how they were issued. The lack of available information on card distribution seems odd, compared to how well-known this information is for other early Bowman/Topps sets and even turn of the century issues.

I know the first sheet contained cards 1-36, and the second sheet re-printed the cards, replacing 12 of them now known as the short prints with 37-48. Of course, this doesn't mean the cards were issued in two series.

The recent box that was found had an opened pack that contained only 1-36 print group cards (including 2 duplicates in the 5 card pack, I hope collation wasn't that bad for most packs!).

Does anyone know if these were issued as two series, 1-36 and 1-48 missing 12 numbers, or were they just printed on two sheets and distributed together as 1 48 card series? Anyone remember or heard of 1 card penny packs or any other way of distribution? Why was this set only 48 cards, while Bowman printed 108 cards for their Football set, a much less popular sport at the time? That this set was clearly successful as it launched Bowman's post-war card boom and exists in large quantity today would make it seem strange they wouldn't have printed a second/third series. Is it known if the 48 cards were perhaps released rather late into the baseball season?