Reflections on 1949 BOWMAN's (25 HOFers, many Rookies)...show-N-tell us of your cards

[tedzan]

No need to start with Checklists, or basic facts regarding the 1949 BOWMAN set. I am sure most of you are well versed on these fundamentals.

I will post interesting bits of information which I have gleaned from my experiences collecting these cards and uncut sheets since I was age 11.
Stay tuned for a lot of pictures, plus my research into this set. And, feel free to Show-N-Tell of your 1949 BOWMAN cards (and/or experiences).


Circa June 1949, candy store windows in the Philadelphia area were displaying these 1949 BOWMAN adv. banners promoting their fourth-coming series of BB cards.





Complete 4th series uncut 36-card sheet [this series (cards #109 - 144) were issued in the Summer of 1949]



I can tell you that the kids in our neighborhood were really excited when this series of cards were available in the Summer of 1949.
These cards were more colorful than the earlier Bowman's, the players names were printed on their fronts, and on the backs of the
cards were facsimile autographs.







TED Z

T206 Reference
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[jason.1969]

Great topic, Ted! Will show off my three cards from the set. I'm curious if you know much about the grayish background variants occasionally seen for cards like the Campy RC.

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[tedzan]

Hi Jason
" Great topic, Ted! Will show off my three cards from the set. I'm curious if you know much about the grayish background variants occasionally seen for cards like the Campy RC. "

I have about 60+ "grayish" ( I refer to them as SLATE) cards in one of my 1949 BOWMAN sets. The Hi # Slate cards are extremely difficult to find.
Here is a sample of some of my Slate cards......




The majority of the Slate cards are cards normally with Green, Light Blue, Orange, or Yellow pastel colors. Very rarely you can find a Slate that normally is Red or dark Blue.

In a forthcoming post, I will display my uncut sheet (36-cards) which includes 17 cards that were not printed with their normal background colors (i.e., Slates).



TED Z

T206 Reference
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[tedzan]

Here is a 3rd series complete sheet (cards #4, 74 - 108). Note that it includes 17 cards with Slate backgrounds.
These 17 cards normally have Green or Orange backgrounds.







The 1949 BOWMAN cards were issued in the Spring of 1949. Depending what part of the country you were in, the 1st
and 2nd Series cards [#1 - 73 (minus #4)] were available at the start of the BB season.

For instance, if you lived in the South, then only cards [#1 - 3, 73, 5 - 36] were available in the Spring. Followed by
cards #37 - 72 which were available in May or June.

Pictured above are the 3rd Series cards (#4, 74 - 108) which were available Circa June of 1949.

Post #1 in this thread depicts the 4th series of cards (#109 - 144) which were issued in the Summer of 1949.

The tough Hi numbers were issued in Sept. of 1949. The 5th series cards (#145 - 180) are the most difficult to find.

The 6th series cards incl. [#181 - 240 (and the 12 variations)]. Stay tuned for more info on the 5th & 6th series.

This classic set of 252 cards is the first large set of BB cards issued since the 1940 Play Ball set. Furthermore, approx.
40 % of the subjects in the 1949 BOWMAN set are ROOKIE cards.


OK, enough said for now....now show us some of your favorite cards in this set.


TED Z

T206 Reference
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[GeoPoto]

http://net54baseball.com/attachment....1&d=1574174165

Are we going to get in trouble for not being pre-war?

[GeoPoto]

http://net54baseball.com/attachment....1&d=1574174630

[irv]

Looking forward to hearing and seeing more, Ted.

I know the info is most likely out there but while I'm here and it's on my mind, what's the story behind the 1952 Topps Look and See cards?

I assume they were sold in separate packs away from baseball but were they released around the same time?

I can also assume they weren't near as popular as the 52 Topps baseball cards, but did some want them for the Babe Ruth card?

Thanks in advance, Ted.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by irv

Looking forward to hearing and seeing more, Ted.

I know the info is most likely out there but while I'm here and it's on my mind, what's the story behind the 1952 Topps Look and See cards?

I assume they were sold in separate packs away from baseball but were they released around the same time?

I can also assume they weren't near as popular as the 52 Topps baseball cards, but did some want them for the Babe Ruth card?

Thanks in advance, Ted.

Hi Dale

I'm sorry, but I cannot answer your question regarding the Look-N-See set.

We had "tons" of 1952 TOPPS (regular issue) cards in our neighborhood. But, we never saw any Look-N-See packs. And, this wasn't just limited to our neighborhood,
for we rode our bikes to other areas (miles away) to search for more, or different cards. The only ones available to us kids were BOWMAN's and TOPP's.

Perhaps, some one on this forum will chime in here and tell us about the Look-N-See cards.


TED Z

T206 Reference
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[samosa4u]

Interesting thread.

Over the years, I have seen a lot of the 1948 Bowman basketball slates and eBay sellers would call them "rare variations" and try to get more money for them. However, I later discovered that these were printers' scrap and were given to kids by Zabel Bros. employees. They were later hand-cut and this is why you aren't going to find any sitting in a slab with a numerical grade. These cards get the AUTH designation only.

Now the 1949 Bowman baseball slates posted by Peter and Ted above don't look hand-cut at all. Hmmm ... interesting.

[tedzan]

Here are two examples from 60+ Slate cards in my collection. One is obviously hand-cut (Salkeld); and, the other is Factory-cut.
A fair number of these color-error cards are indeed Factory-cut.

And that does not surprise me because when I opened up 1949 BOWMAN 5-cent packs, I do remember finding color-error cards.
Not that often; nevertheless, some which were mostly from the 3rd Series issue.






Hi samosa4u

Here is an uncut sheet of Hi # cards (#37 - 72) from the 1948 BOWMAN Basketball set that you alluded to. Typically, Zabel Bros.
employees would take home such mis-printed sheets. Eventually, these 36 cards would be cut up then distributed into the hobby.
Quite a number of these sheets were discovered back in the 1970's.




TED Z

T206 Reference
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[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Here are two examples from 60+ Slate cards in my collection. One is obviously hand-cut (Salkeld); and, the other is Factory-cut.
A fair number of these color-error cards are indeed Factory-cut.

And that does not surprise me because when I opened up 1949 BOWMAN 5-cent packs, I do remember finding color-error cards.
Not that often; nevertheless, some which were mostly from the 3rd Series issue.

Now this is getting very interesting!

So the slate sheets for the 1948 Bowman basketball series were all rejected, but the following year some of the slate sheets for the 1949 baseball series ended up being factory cut and inserted into packs. I wonder what happened here. It looks like Zabel Bros. just decided to send some of the slate sheets to Bowman and left it up to them. Bowman obviously had no problem with them, otherwise, I don't think they would have ended up being sold to the public.

[Peter_Spaeth]

..

[Ronnie73]

The gray variations always looked like missing color printing passes to me.

[tedzan]

My favorite 1949 BOWMAN action pose....Stan (the Man) Musial in his classic batting stance.

How about showing us your favorite action pose in this set ?


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TED Z

T206 Reference
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[Bram99]

Ted,

What about the big leg kick of Warren Spahn?

[Bram99]

Or the Springfield Rifle with 5 O’clock shadow.

[Bram99]

Doby, Lamanno, Kryhoski

[Fuddjcal]

I never like the Bowmans and they were the last things on my want lists. I have been gaining an appreciation for them recently though. I always hated the 49's. They were the worst in my eyes. I think I own 1.

You made them look great and with the story I am really beginning to like them!! Thanks for sharing and help making me a fan.

[tedzan]

OK guys.... please pardon the lengthy story you are about to read here (if you so choose). A flashback to the 1970's begins this story.
I returned to this hobby in 1977. I credit my two Daughters (teenagers), who encouraged me to recover the BB cards from my youth.
Debbie and Zoe have always been avid BB fans. In 1977, they began collecting BB cards after seeing Reggie Jackson's amazing 3 HRs
in the final game of the 1977 World Series.

My large collection of the Sportscards from my youth were stored in the attic of my folks home. This 1949 set was the first one I was
interested in completing. In the process of acquiring the 40+ cards I needed, I was mystified by certain variations in it. And, so were
the hobby Price Guides of that period. Thru my hobby friend in Florida, John, I met another serious collector of 1949 Bowman cards in
North Carolina, Ralph Triplette.
Ralph and I compared our theories regarding these variations. We concluded that we should publish them in SCD. When we contacted
SCD, Bob Lemke thought our "ground-breaking" story was better suited as an article in their colorful BASEBALL CARDS Magazine. Our
article was published in Spring 1983 issue of BASEBALL CARDS Mag. Jim Beckett included our findings in his 1983 Beckett Price Guide.

Between Ralph and I, we have (or have seen) 6 of the 7 uncut sheets (36 cards each) which were printed in the production of this set.
The elusive 7th sheet has never been seen. On display here is my simulated version of it, which I put together many years ago. Note,
the 12 variations in the 1949 BOWMAN set are printed on the lower rows of this last sheet. Ralph and I have evidence (in the form of
overprinted backs) of the exact placement of 32 cards on this sheet. When I constructed this simulation, four of the variations on the
bottom row were unknown. Recently, additional evidence has surfaced and I have switched the placement of these 4 cards (as noted).



…………………………………....…….………… ^________________________^ ……….……….. ^_____________^

Note....evidence surfaced in recent years which made me switch the positions of Dillinger & Murtaugh, and switch Fitzgerald & Priddy


Stay tuned for more information regarding the 12 variations in this set.


TED Z

T206 Reference
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[Bram99]

Originally Posted by tedzan

The elusive 7th sheet has never been seen. On display here is my simulated version of it, which I put together many years ago. Note,
the 12 variations in the 1949 BOWMAN set are printed on the lower rows of this last sheet. Ralph and I have evidence (in the form of
overprinted backs) of the exact placement of 32 cards on this sheet. When I constructed this simulation, four of the variations on the
bottom row were unknown. Recently, additional evidence has surfaced and I have switched the placement of these 4 cards (as noted).



…………………………………....…….………… ^________________________^ ……….……….. ^_____________^

Note....evidence surfaced in recent years which made me switch the positions of Dillinger & Murtaugh, and switch Fitzgerald & Priddy


Stay tuned for more information regarding the 12 variations in this set.


TED Z

T206 Reference
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Here's my imagined rendering of the even more elusive 8th sheet:

[tedzan]

Indeed, the toughest series of cards in the 1949 BOWMAN set are in the 5th Series (#145 - 180). My theory is, these were most
likely short-printed. As Bowman was in a hurry for the production of their last 72 cards of this set (the 6th Series). The 6th Series
cards (comprising of sheets 6 and 7) are somewhat more available than the 5th series cards.

In completing several 1949 Bowman sets throughout the years, my experience is, that these 2 cards are the most difficult to find:
Preacher Roe (#162) and George Stirnweiss (#165).

I am not sure why the Preacher Roe card is tougher to find than other cards in the 5th Series. But, one thing is for sure, Roe was
the Dodgers' southpaw pitching "ace" during 1948 - 1953 with a 93 - 33 Won-Lost record.





Now, on the other hand, the scarcity of the George Stirnweiss card goes with a story......

Back in the 1980's and 1990's, when I would set up at BB cards Shows in New Jersey, George Stirnweiss' family often attended.

His family would buy every Stirnweiss card I had (1947 Tip Top, 1948 - 1951 Bowmans, 1952 Topps, etc.). Therefore, my guess
is this is partially the reason for why his 1949 Bowman card is very difficult to find.


I'm curious....you collectors of 1949 BOWMAN cards....what card (or cards) in this set have you found difficult to get ?


TED Z

T206 Reference
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[tedzan]

Zabel Bros. Printers in Philadelphia produced the Bowman Sportscards & Non-Sports cards. The 1948 - 1952 cards were printed using 38-inch (track width) presses.
This press dimension neatly accommodated the printing of two adjacent 36-card sheets on a standard size cardboard sheet.

Unlike the first five series (36 subjects each), the 6th Series comprises of 72 subjects. Cards #181 - 216, and cards #217 - 240 (plus the 12 variations).








The 6th Series cards are Hi #s, and they are pretty tough to find. From my experience, though, the Bob Lemon (#238) card is considerably more difficult to find
than the other 71 cards in this series. I don't understand why this is. Anyone on this forum, who collects these cards, having a tough time finding certain cards ?





Here's a list of some of the star players of that era that are in the 6th Series...…

Richie Ashburn
Ralph Branca
Larry Doby
Joe Gordon
Larry Jansen
Charlie Keller
Bob Lemon
Eddie Lopat
Johnny Mize
Satchell Paige
Pete Reiser
Phil Rizzuto
Schoolboy Rowe
Dick Sisler
Duke Snider
Virgil Trucks


TED Z

T206 Reference
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[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Bram99

Here's my imagined rendering of the even more elusive 8th sheet:

Hey Tony

Neat "sheet"......but, Porterfield, Shea, and Sanford are missing from your Yankees Pitcher's display ?


TED Z

T206 Reference
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[Bram99]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hey Tony

Neat "sheet"......but, Porterfield, Shea, and Sanford are missing from your Yankees Pitcher's display ?


TED Z

T206 Reference
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Ted, my sheet isn’t all Yankees pitchers, just the big 3.

I’ve completed a couple of 49 bowman sets and the hardest cards for me have been 162 Roe, 175 Appling, 189 Wooten, 194 Branca, 211 Ferriss, and 238 Lemon HOF RC. I also do find the 145 to 181 relatively scarce as well. Also the PNOB versions of the 12 “double prints” are also hard to find.

With all of the copies of these cards out there, do you really think that the Stirnweiss family collecting of the card could have the impact of making it scarce? There had to be millions of these printed. But how many could be in circulation / existence now? I wonder...

Tony

[tedzan]

It's sort of disappointing that this 1949 BOWMAN thread has not received more responses. It's a classic BB card set of 252 cards. The largest color set since the 1933 GOUDEY set.

OH WELL ! Let's see if we can generate some more interest by including the mysterious 1949 BOWMAN Pacific Coast League (PCL) set of 36 cards. Bowman expanded their market
to the west coast by introducing the PCL cards. Judging by their design and their colors, my guess is that these 36 cards were printed and issued during the Summer of 1949.

In the 1970's and early 1980's, the general consensus in the hobby was that these cards were only issued as sheets, of which the cards were hand-cut. This myth was dismissed in
the late 1980's by several finds.

Displayed here is the PCL waxpack wrapper.

…..…...... extremely rare 1949 PCL wrapper .................................................. ................... regular 5-cent 1949 wrapper

.


Since the early 1980's, in the process of acquiring all 36 cards Factory-cut, I have completed 3.4 sets
of these PCL cards. Here is page #1 (of 3 pages) in my 1949 BOWMAN album.





……………….…...… Factory-cut ………..………..…..………...…………….. Hand-cut







Stay tuned for more 1949 PCL stuff....which includes my first "big deal" with Alan "Mr Mint" Rosen....and, my PCL find.

And, if you have some of these very "rare gems", don't be shy, share them with us.


TED Z

T206 Reference
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[jason.1969]

And is there a story to some of the cards having the player name on the front and some not?

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[tedzan]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

And is there a story to some of the cards having the player name on the front and some not?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Hi Jason

I guess you are referring to the 12 variations in this set. As you know, the set comprises of 240 subjects. However, each sheet was printed on a 36-card format.
This number (240) is not divisible by 36; therefore, BOWMAN had their Printer add 12 cards to fill in the blank spaces on the 7th (last) sheet.

Six subjects were derived from the 3rd sheet. Six more from the 4th sheet. You can see these 12 guys here on my simulated 7th sheet. Starting with Scheffing,
Evans, Majeski, and continuing the on the bottom row.with Mize, Brazle, Dillinger, Rizzuto, Murtaugh, Fitzgerald, Priddy, Salkeld, Zoldak.

Feel free to ask me any more questions regarding this set.





TED Z

T206 Reference
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[jimmysuitcase]

Ted, our appreciation for your wealth of knowledge is only rivaled by our appreciation for your willingness to share it. Thank you for maintaining this thread!

I have amassed 249 of the 252, and I lack three big cards (Paige, J.Robinson, Ashburn) due to budgetary constraints. I've HELD those three cards before...

I have one slate gray (a hi#) and two PCL cards as well. Roe was one of my last acquisitions, and I also had trouble for a while getting #174 Terry Moore - so much so that I sprung for a low grade dupe when I saw one pop up. The toughest variation for me to locate was Murtaugh. I also have a handful of overprinted backs, including one that features Campanella.

I put together most of my set about 15-20 years ago, picked up a smattering of cards more recently, and will likely remain stuck on 249 unless I find a low grade trader or change income tax brackets. :-)

Please keep the info flowing! I really enjoyed seeing scarcities like the baseball bank, PCL wrapper, and the uncut sheets.

-James

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by jimmysuitcase

Ted, our appreciation for your wealth of knowledge is only rivaled by our appreciation for your willingness to share it. Thank you for maintaining this thread!

I have amassed 249 of the 252, and I lack three big cards (Paige, J.Robinson, Ashburn) due to budgetary constraints. I've HELD those three cards before...

I have one slate gray (a hi#) and two PCL cards as well. Roe was one of my last acquisitions, and I also had trouble for a while getting #174 Terry Moore - so much so that I sprung for a low grade dupe when I saw one pop up. The toughest variation for me to locate was Murtaugh. I also have a handful of overprinted backs, including one that features Campanella.

I put together most of my set about 15-20 years ago, picked up a smattering of cards more recently, and will likely remain stuck on 249 unless I find a low grade trader or change income tax brackets. :-)

Please keep the info flowing! I really enjoyed seeing scarcities like the baseball bank, PCL wrapper, and the uncut sheets.

-James

Hi jimmysuitcase

That's a cool name. And, thank you for all your kind words.

First, I'm curious regarding the Hi # slate card you have.... what card is it ?

Interesting to hear that the Preacher Roe card was one of your last cards. And, Terry Moore is indeed a tough card to find. I have a nice one for you, if you would like to upgrade.

Stay tuned there is more interesting things to share with you regarding these neat 1949 "gems".



TED Z

T206 Reference
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[jimmysuitcase]

Thanks for your response, Ted. My slate hi# is pictured below next to his normal counterpart.

[robinsonmantle]

Great posting and so much great information about this set of cards.

Here are few cards I have.

[The Detroit Collector]

Since this thread has been resurrected

[tedzan]

The source of many of the player's images in the 1949 BOWMAN set are the various Team Photo Packs (25 photos)
issued at the Stadiums in 1948. For example....here's the photo of Paige from my Cleveland Indians Stadium pack.








TED Z

T206 Reference
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[rjackson44]

I have half this set what i will tell you they have gotten very expensive.Great cards guys octavio

[michael3322]

Amazing cards.

It really is impossible to overstate how incredible Roy Campanella was...3x MVP during an MLB career that lasted <10 years.

You can watch Vin Scully's famous call in 1957 when 93k Dodgers' fans lit matches to pay tribute to Roy after his accident:
https://youtu.be/XfXB_THdp3o

[Seven]

Out of curiosity could anyone explain why Campanella's hat, does not contain the Dodgers logo and instead is just a blank blue cap? Looks like Bowman painted over whatever logo was on his hat with a dark shade of blue paint!

I didn't even know of the PCL set before discovering this thread! You learn something new everyday!

[prewarsports]

I have seen the photo used to make the card and if my memory serves me right, it is a Montreal cap.

[e6phillips]

49 Bowman Dodgers

[jason.1969]

Ted,

If you'd be good with it I might like to summarize much of what you've provided here into an article for the SABR Baseball Cards blog. Let me know if that sounds good. Naturally I'd credit you appropriately.

Thanks,
Jason

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

Ted,

If you'd be good with it I might like to summarize much of what you've provided here into an article for the SABR Baseball Cards blog. Let me know if that sounds good. Naturally I'd credit you appropriately.

Thanks,
Jason

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Jason

That is fine with me, provided that I get to proof-read it before you submit it to SABR. AND, you credit
Ralph Triplette and I by referring to our 1983 Baseball Cards Magazine article (6 pages) displayed here.


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TED Z

T206 Reference
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[tedzan]

My first complete 1949 BOWMAN PCL set.

In 1984 at the Atlantic City BB card Show, I checked-out Alan "Mr Mint" Rosen's booth. He had his usual spectacular display of "oldies-n-goodies".
Including a very seldom seen complete 1949 BOWMAN PCL set.

"How much, Alan ?"....I asked. He said 2K. I said I have exactly 2K in my pocket. But, I need to spend some of it elsewhere. He suggested I give
him 500, and we can complete this deal at a later date. He removed this set off the table and told me stop by to take it with me upon leaving the
show.
The following week I drove to his home in North Jersey. He was more interested in trading than cash. I was aware of this, so I brought an eclectic
bunch of goodies. You'll have quite a laugh when you find out what he took in trade for the 1500 balance, which I owed him to complete the deal.

Here is page #2 (of 3 pages) from my 1949 BOWMAN album. Have a good look, as you very rarely see these PCL cards.


……..… "Pinky" Woods ………………………….…… Mickey Grasso ………......………………. Xavier Rescigno

…….. "Swede" Jensen ………………..………..…… "Jo-Jo" White ………......…………..……. Harvey Storey




……...….. Tony York ……………..…….…..……..…… Jake Mooty ………........…..………..……. "Red" Adams

…..…"Iron Man" Malone …………...…….……..Maurice Van Robays ………......……..…....…. Jim Tabor



Stay tuned for my PCL find......Oh ! and I will not forget the trade deal with Rosen


TED Z

T206 Reference
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[jason.1969]

The 1948 attached to the 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson is inaccurate, and the card should be regarded as 1949. This would tie it with Bowman among major issues and of course put it even more behind various minor issues.

Personally I like 1948 Swell as a "major enough" issue and true 1948, though the card is more a highlights card than a "pure" Jackie card.

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[dealme]

What an entertaining thread. I don’t own any 49 Bowman cards, but that may soon change. I did happen to notice from the images posted that the Augie Galen card seems to be a colorized version of his 48 Bowman card (which I am somewhat familiar with after having completed that particular set)

I should also add that I find the first-hand accounts of collecting these cards as they were issued incredibly interesting. Thanks for resurrecting this thread!

Cheers,
Mark


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tedzan]

For us NY Yankees fans, the 1949 season was a tremendous year, and a tremendous team. Besides Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto,
Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi, etc....there was Joe Page's tremendous Relief performances and Johnny Lindell's (end of September) Playoff HR
in the 9th inning to beat the Red Sox for the American League Championship.





TED Z

T206 Reference
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