Quote:
Originally Posted by tedzan
Here is what I know about Zabel Bros. of Philadelphia. This printing firm had been around since the late 19th Century. In 1981,
I had a great conversation with George and Howard Moll of the Moll Advertising Agency in Abington, PA. The artists at the Moll
Agency were contracted by the BOWMAN GUM Co., starting in 1938, to do all the sports and non-sports cards sets (Play Ball,
Bowman, War Gum, Wild West, etc.....and, their famous Horrors of War).
Howard told me that the 1948 and 1949 BB, FB, Basketball, Movie Stars, etc. were printed by a lesser known printer in the Philly
area. Then they switched printers to Zabel Bros. in the Fall of '49. BOWMAN's first gum card production with Zabel was their very
colorful and artistic Wild West cards. I collected these as a kid and I remember getting them in the Winter of '49 thru the Spring
of 1950. At that time, the 1950 BOWMAN BB cards were also available at our corner stores in Hillside, NJ. I recollect that us kids
were very excited to open up those Red-White-Blue packs and find these colorful looking BB cards. Many of which were the same
pictures from the 1949 set with artistic backgrounds. Zabel Bros. made a significant difference in the quality of the BOWMAN cards
from 1949 to 1955.
When TOPPS bought out BOWMAN in 1956, it is my understanding that the contract with Zabel Bros. continued with TOPPS.
Dave, I hope this story provides some insight to the question you asked.
TED Z
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Thanks Ted-I do know the 1956 Topps Presidents set was printed in the same dimensions as the large Bowman cards (a hair different in size than the Topps Giant Size cards) and I have long suspected but have been unable to confirm that the standard sized cards that started with Elvis in 1956 were configured to fit the Bowman sheets. However, I have done some research that indicates Topps was still using Lord Baltimore Printing in Baltimore through the end of the 50's, so there may have been some sets printed in Balto and some in Philly for 4-5 years.
I am fairly certain Lord Baltimore printed all of the Giant Sized Topps cards from 1952 through 1954 and likley into 1955 or '56 (except for the Presidents set); I suspect the Red and Blue Backs plus the Team and AS cards in '51 were printed in Philly but probably not by Zabel. I wonder if they were done by the other Philly firm you refer to. Still trying to determine who did the Topps printing in 1949-50 as well.
Any idea what happened to Zabel Bros? They disappear in the mid 90's I think. Not sure if they were bought out or not.