OK-Bowman too, that makes a a lot of sense, totally spaced on that.
Jim, the thought of having to drive to work in NYC every day is frightful-traffic is just the worst. The rail option at Bush Terminal is intriguing and may have been used but I think barges may have been cheaper; I may check into that but I deal with barges all the time at work but they were pretty cost efficient in the burgeoning containerization days. In any event, Philly to Brooklyn barge hauls are very common.
Getting a grip on what was actually printed and/or assembled inside Bush Terminal should occupy some of my winter!
I also wonder if the Rochester connection makes sense in light of large 52 Topps high number finds in upper NY state and Canada.
Finding details about Zabel is maddening. There are references to the family here and there and some decent articles in the NY Times archive but I can't find too much on their day to day ops except that they produced vast quantities of sheet music.
I'll post this at the old Net54 Non Sports board and see what's shaking over there. They have a really good Goudey factory thread going right now.
Links:
Topps:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/52660...Cards+Pre-1965
Goudey:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/52660...+Factory+Shots...