1949 Leaf BB cards....show us your Leaf's

[steve_a]

My guess on Hermansk is a printing plate issue. If you line up a Hermansk and a Hermanski you will see they are perfectly aligned but the Hermanski is better centered within the text block. This partial "I" demonstrates the point.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by steve_a

My guess on Hermansk is a printing plate issue. If you line up a Hermansk and a Hermanski you will see they are perfectly aligned but the Hermanski is better centered within the text block. This partial "I" demonstrates the point.

Hi Steve

In the Old Cardboard magazine, in my article on this set, I present another take on the Hermanski variation.

The Hermanski card was located on the bottom right-hand corner of the 49-card LEAF sheet. In the printing process of this sheet, there were times when the letter "I"
did not print (or as your card shows, partially printed) due to the printing plate not making firm contact with the cardboard on that very lowermost corner of the sheet.


TED Z
.

[steve_a]

Originally Posted by tedzan

... there were times when the letter "I" did not print (or as your card shows, partially printed) due to the printing plate not making firm contact with the cardboard on that very lowermost corner of the sheet.

TED Z
.

I think that is the right idea, but maybe backwards? Don't forget that it is the text boxes that are printed, not the names. The names are just voids within the text box. A missing "I" would be from over-contact or too much ink.

[tedzan]

For many years we've known that these cards were skip-numbered, and that there are 98 different BB subjects.
But, in the Spring of '49....us kids had no idea how many cards we needed to complete this set. A premium adv.
on the back of some cards mentioned a 168-card album was available for mailing in a number of wrappers.
We kept spending our pennies buying LEAF cards by the 100's. It was a "nasty" marketing trick that LEAF Gum
played on us kids back then. My original collection had all 49 (1st series) cards and approx. 80 duplicates.


Here is an old photo of an uncut sheet of 1st series cards. Along with a diagram of the card #'s on their backs.









TED Z
.

[steve B]

Pretty neat stuff Ted.

I've been studying the first series a bit trying to figure out the order of what to me looks like three printings, or maybe three sets of plates with some transitional cards using elements of two different groups. Having the major variations in some sort of order is huge.

The stuff I'm, looking at.

Pink vs Red and background differences like backgrounds extending along the players body or bat or not.



And not only pink vs red, but dark blue vs light blue and similar background issues.



I've suspected for a while that pink and those extensions of the background were earlier, pink changed because the target market would probably very much prefer red, and the little extensions removed to cut a bit of cost. Not saving much ink per card, but over a big press run it would add up.

There's other changes that are less obvious and that I don't have good scans for like shading on hats or not.

A fun set that I like, and one I like all the more for that complexity. I'll probably complete the basic regular cards someday, probably not the SPs.

Steve B

[tedzan]

Hi Steve B.

Thanks for chiming in, and thanks for the compliment.


Here are other LEAF's from my 2 sets that have both shades of Blue.

The Musial card is mostly found with the Dark Blue color. Very rarely, a Light Blue one is found. I prefer the Light Blue version.














And then, there is BLUE or no BLUE.




And if you're lucky (rarely in a "blue-moon") you can find a no-Blue LEAF card.

You got to love this stuff.


TED Z
.

[jb67]

Some great cards being posted. I only have one Leaf card but really love this set and will eventually add more. Here is my Jackie Robinson.

[tedzan]

I've listed the 98 subjects (plus the 3 variations) as a function of their teams for those on his forum who are team collectors.

The 2nd series (short-print) cards are identified by an *


BOSTON BRAVES
----------------------
WARREN SPAHN
ALVIN DARK *
BOB ELLIOTT
TOMMY HOLMES *
HAROLD REISER *

BOSTON RED SOX
-----------------------
TED WILLIAMS
BOBBY DOERR
MATHEW BATTS *
DOM DiMAGGIO *
BILLY GOODMAN *
MICKEY HARRIS
JOHNNY PESKY *
VERN STEPHENS *

BROOKLYN DODGERS
---------------------------
JACKIE ROBINSON
GENE HERMANSKI
GENE HERMANSK (missing "I" variation)

CHICAGO CUBS
--------------------
CLIFF ABERSON
CLIFF ABERSON (short sleeve variation)
PHIL CAVRETTA *
FRANK GUSTINE *
EMIL LEONARD *
HARRY LOWREY *
BOB McCALL
ANDY PAFKO
BOB SCHEFFING *
JOHNNY SCHMITZ *
ROY SMALLEY
HARRY WALKER *

CHICAGO WHITE SOX
---------------------------
LUCIUS APPLING
FLOYD BAKER *
ORVAL GROVE *
CASIMER MICHAELS *
DAVE PHILLEY *
PAT SEEREY
RALPH WEIGEL

CINCINNATI REDS
-----------------------
BOBBY ADAMS *
EWELL BLACKWELL
TED KLUSZEWSKI
KENT PETERSON
KENT PETERSON (red cap variation)
HANK SAUER *
JOHNNY VANDERMEER
JOHN WYROSTEK *

CLEVELAND INDIANS
---------------------------
BOB FELLER *
LEROY PAIGE *
LOU BOUDREAU
LARRY DOBY *
HANK EDWARDS
JOE GORDON
JIM HEGAN
KEN KELTNER *
DALE MITCHELL *

DETROIT TIGERS
----------------------
GEORGE KELL *
HAL NEWHOUSER *
WALTER EVERS *
FRED HUTCHINSON *
FRANK OVERMIRE
PAUL TROUT
VIRGIL TRUCKS *
GEORGE VICO
DICK WAKEFIELD

NEW YORK GIANTS
------------------------
JOHNNY MIZE
LARRY JENSEN
SID GORDON *

NEW YORK YANKEES
---------------------------
BABE RUTH
JOE DiMAGGIO
PHIL RIZZUTO
TOMMY HENRICH *
BILLY JOHNSON
JOHNNY LINDELL
GEORGE STIRNWEISS

PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS
----------------------------------
LOU BRISSIE
SAM CHAPMAN
EDDIE JOOST *
HENRY MAJESKI *
BARNEY McCOSKY *
WARREN ROSAR
ELMER VALO

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
--------------------------------
DEL ENNIS
ED MILLER *
DICK SISLER *

PITTSBURGH PIRATES
----------------------------
JOHN WAGNER
RALPH KINER
KIRBY HIGBE *
JOHNNY HOPP
DANNY MURTAUGH *
EDDIE STEVENS *

ST LOUIS BROWNS
------------------------
BOB DILLINGER *
CLIFFORD FANNIN *
MIZELL PLATT
GERALD PRIDDY
AL ZARILLA *

ST LOUIS CARDINALS
---------------------------
STAN MUSIAL
ENOS SLAUGHTER *
HARRY BRECHEEN *
GEORGE KUROWSKI *
MARTIN MARION

WASHINGTON SENATORS
--------------------------------
JAKE EARLY
AL EVANS
SID HUDSON
EDDIE STEWART *



TED Z
.

[mrmopar]

Leaf did me a favor by not including that many Dodgers, although I have wanted a SP Reiser forever even though he is not a Dodger in the set.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Bumpus Jones

Great post Ted Z. I've long admired these cards and have several Reds players in my collection, but I'm also an advanced Reds pennant collector of all shapes and sizes and this is the only pennant I own that measures 12" x 6". In my opinion, this is the Reds version of the pennant offer shown on the back of some Leaf cards. Wanted to hear yours and everyone else's opinion on the subject. I'm also interested in hearing what you have to say about the other premiums offered by leaf. Do you have any pics to share of these items?

Hi Chris

The last time I saw any of the Pennants that LEAF Gum offered, I was very young. They really are very rare. Your Cincinnati pennant looks like what was offered by LEAF.
And, it certainly measures correctly.

The 32-page LEAF album premium is seldom seen. Both the Album and the Pennants were mail-in items, and this may have something to do why these items are so rare.

The HOFer's picture premiums were available at our corner candy stores. These premiums were inside the 24-count wax pack boxes. Kids would get a HOFer's picture by
simply giving the store manager ten LEAF wrappers and requested a certain ballplayer.

Also, I've heard that some generous store managers would reward a kid with a HOFer premium when that kid purchased the very last wax pack(s) in the box.

Here are my 3 premiums....two Babe Ruth pictures, and the Lou Gehrig pix.



. . . .




Premiums Checklist

Grover Cleveland Alexander
Mickey Cochrane
Lou Gehrig
Walter Johnson
Christy Mathewson
John McGraw
Babe Ruth (light background, no text)
Babe Ruth (blue background, no text)
Babe Ruth (dark background, text)
Ed Walsh



TED Z
.

[Bumpus Jones]

Those are great Ted Z.! I very much appreciate your taking the time to do this. Would you happen to have or have any pictures of promotional items or card wrappers to share? How many cards came in a package? Thanks, Chris.

[tedzan]

Chris

Here are the wrappers of the two competing Gum Co. in 1949. The BOWMAN and LEAF wax-packs were available for a Penny and a Nickel.



................ 1949 BOWMAN …….............................................. 1949 LEAF .....................





TED Z
.