Posted By:
Jim VBMatt,
I think you may be failing to take a couple of factors into account. The standards for both printing and cutting allowed for a lot more variance in the 1940's than they do today.
I own a set of 1948 Bowman Basketball cards that have 8-10 cards that are miscut. All of these 8-10 cards are cut identically. This leads me to believe that there was a problem with the factory cut. On several others, the cut edge is rough and/or ragged, indicating a dull cutting blade. These have been in our family for 50+ years and I've had them for 20+ years, so they are not "trimmed". Yet if I sent them to be graded, I expect they'd be bounced.
I trust Ted's judgement on this issue. I don't know of anyone with more knowledge on 1940-1950 cards.