1962 JELL-O Brooks Robinson Paste-Up Exists

[keepmeposted]

1962 JELL-O BASEBALL CARD
COPY ART/PASTE-UP BOARDS
Dan Mabey

PREFACE: Some of you are aware that one year ago I suffered a fractured femur and ruptured Achilles heel injury. During recuperation I slowly began attempting to inventory my lost 1961-63 Post and 1962-63 JELL-O baseball card archives. This disheartening exercise confirmed that the movers misplaced or stole a major portion of the paper and digital files, including both the computer hard drive and thumb drive copies of the four books I have authored. The good news is I found the 2 photos depicting 1962 JELL-O baseball card paste-up/copy art boards. The photos had literally been thrown into a box (marked “garage”) that included my 15 pound free-weights, computer monitor, career awards and plaques, and audio acoustic treatment accessories.

Between medical and physical therapy appointments, I began studying the two 1962 JELL-O baseball card panels. Upon noticing the frame depicting Brooks Robinson, I decided that this information needed to be shared. The narrative that follows is not accompanied by images of the 2 photos, simply because the pictures are virtually impossible to decipher when posted on the internet. Understand I am not attempting to withhold source data, but please realize a poorly photographed analog photo that is copied and pasted to a digital file will be little more than a blurry black blotch. [Believe me, I tried!]

INTRODUCTION: In October of 1997, I received a telephone call by a person who represented himself as an agent attempting to broker the sale of 1962 and 1963 JELL-O baseball card paste-up boards. I was living in Northern Virginia at the time. A brief conversation with the agent disclosed they were priced at $10,000 each. Although disinclined to make the purchase at the price stated, I requested and received through the mail Kodachrome photos of the items. The color photos are dated October 5, 1997.

BACKGROUND: Two (2) 1962 JELL-O paste-up boards were depicted in the glossy photos. Resolution of the photos was poor, complicated by the fact that they were staged on a backyard lawn with a combination of intense sunlight and the shading of a tree and human shadow. All of the original player photos were absent, and several of the individual cards had portions of the pasted text missing or obscured by the yellowing/browning of the paste originally used to affix the numbers, biographies, and statistics.

ANALYSIS: Having been a consultant to Lelands Auction House in personally reviewing and writing narratives for the 1963 Post and 1963 JELL-O baseball card copy art/paste-up boards, I have been fascinated and perplexed by the 2 photos depicting the 1962 JELL-O baseball card images. Unlike those viewed in their original 1963 Post and 1963 JELL-O folios, the 2 photos did not reveal the 1962 JELL-O gelatin or pudding flavors or sizes on which the cards were destined to appear. Unlike the research findings leading to the books covering the 1961-63 Post cereal baseball card printing process, I have no knowledge or informed account of how the 1962 JELL-O cards were transformed from the copy art/paste-up boards to individual gelatin and pudding packages.

COPY ART/PASTE-UP BOARD REVELATIONS: The Kodachrome photos of the 2 1962 JELL-O baseball card layouts have been scrutinized under intense light and the aid of a magnifying glass. The following illustration shows the precise order and team affiliation appearing on the boards – and YES, number 29 BROOKS ROBINSON is reflected on the predominantly Baltimore Orioles copy art! [More observations and speculation follow the board player and team affiliation chart set forth below.]

182 – Ed Bouchee 183 – Don Zimmer 184 – Ron Santo
185 – Andre Rodgers 186 – Richie Ashburn 187 – George Altman
188 – Ernie Banks 189 – Sam Taylor 191 – Jerry Kindall
180 – Harvey Haddix 190 – Don Elston 198 – Robin Roberts

27 – Jim Gentile 28 – Marv Breeding 29 – Brooks Robinson
30 – Ron Hansen 31 – Jackie Brandt 32 – Dick Williams
33 – Gus Triandos 37 – Vic Power 38 – Johnny Temple
35 – Hoyt Wilhelm 26 – Jim Bunning 34 – Milt Pappas


SHAKEY OBSERVATIONS AND WOBBLY SPECULATION: First and foremost, I can unequivocally state that 1962 JELL-O Card No. 29 – Brooks Robinson was designed and placed by the art department to appear in the set. Furthermore, Brooks Robinson was placed in numerical sequence on the Baltimore Orioles paste-up board. However, Brooks never made an appearance. What happened? I am reluctant to accept the notion that there was a contract dispute or licensing constraint. After all, Brooks appeared in every 1961-63 U.S. Post and 1962 Canadian Post set, as well as the 1963 JELL-O set. Furthermore, the model contracts executed between General Foods, player representative Frank Scott, and the major league players granted unqualified authorization for use of the likenesses in all company promotional campaigns. Presuming that the 1962 JELL-O cards of Brooks Roby (or Kluszewski and Burgess) were not slated to appear on the newly introduced and highly unsuccessful vegetable flavored gelatins, 62 years of hobby experience strongly suggests the card(s) were never produced.

In the case of Brooks, I wonder if the trade of Card No. 38 – Johnny Temple from Cleveland to Baltimore may have confused the Leroy, New York or Young and Rubicam (Y&R) architects as they attempted to maintain parity in the total team representations. Since Temple’s card noted his trade to the Orioles, the Indians team lost one player allocation; accordingly, it may have prompted the curious replacement of Colavito’s likeness (as a Tiger having been traded from Cleveland) with Card No. 19 – Ken Aspromonte.

Using parallel logic leading to the Brooks Roby scenario, I feel confusion or poor communication within the art department may have been the source of Burgess or “Big Klu” being scrubbed from the 1962 JELL-O card promotion. Is it coincidental that the copy art/paste-up board displays Card No. 26 – Jim Bunning of the Tigers, Card No. 38 – Johnny Temple of the Indians (with asterisk noting trade to the Orioles), and “no show” Card No. 29 – Brooks Robinson on the same sheet? Regarding “no show” Card No. 176 – Smoky Burgess, is it possible confusion reigned supreme when the art department inserted the Pirate’s No. 180 – Harvey Haddix (and the Phillies Card No. 198 – Robin Roberts) in the midst of the Chicago Cubs team sequence? The absence of the 1962 JELL-O Card No. 82 – Ted Kluszewski remains a mystery to me. Conceding that “Big Klu” was released unconditionally by the expansion L.A. Angels on October 11, 1961, he certainly was a more formidable and popular player than Card No. 75 – Rocky Bridges. As Rocky’s printed card states, he also was released unconditionally on October 11, 1961.

CONCLUDING REMARKS: The foregoing analysis is purely speculative. It is simply a vain attempt by an obsessive throw-back hobbyist to understand the nuances of one of the most challenging food promotional sets of the early 1960s. I hope that someday other 1962 JELL-O baseball card copy art/paste-up sheets will be discovered and shared with advanced sports card collectors.