As a kid (growing up in the 1940's) my very first BB cards were from Bond Bread packages.
My first BB cards from waxpacks were purchased in the Spring of 1949 when the 1949 LEAF Gum cards were available.
In recent years (2001), I bought an unopened 1949 BOWMAN 5-cent pack from ebay. Upon opening it, I instantly realized it was a fake. It contained a
skinny slab of TOPPS gum and 5 varying condition cards of various series. Having collected the BOWMAN's as a kid, I knew this was a NO-NO !
TED Z