1952 and 1953 Topps store displays
 

I know these have shown up before, but I just found my copies and man, look at the number of boxes you could have bought. These pictures just make me wish for a "way-back" machine. Sorry if you've seen them before, but they bring a tear to my eye every time I see them.

Always fun to imagine...
 

Some astrophysicists seriously theorize that there exist billions of "alternate" universes, wherein every moment of time repeats endlessly and infinite possibilities play out. Too much boggling for my tiny mind, but I wonder if in some universe right now, there is a nine-year-old kid standing in front of that Topps display and pondering whether he should invest his pocket change in a couple of waxpacks or just buy a coke and a candy bar for lunch. I'm sort of glad that it was not me.:rolleyes:

You know how people say.... " I wish I had a dollar every time......."?

Mine is "I wish I had a dollar every time I see those two colored images of the 1952 and 1953 displays" posted online.

I colored those two images back in 2006 when the 1952 image first appeared after being in a Lelands auction?? I used Photoshop to colorize the images and then posted it on Collectors Universe. Sixteen years later, it still pops up several times a year and I still see it on Ebay.

Oh..."I wish I had a dollar every time ...." :):)

PS Those are my initials under the 53 packs.

Very cool! I have seen the 52 image many times but this is my first time seeing the 53's! That is my favorite set. Thanks OP for posting it

Great job colorizing the picture. Thank you for sharing it.

It was probably $1/box back then. Oops, just got another tear in my eye.

Here's a 1962 Post store display and a 1952 Topps display box plus what I assume is a 1953 wall display.

If you had a way back machine would you go back to 1952 or to 11-7-22 ?

Love these. That particular shelf has four consecutive Topps products that I can ID:, from L-R: Clor-Aid Gum, Wings, 1953 Baseball, Bazooka nickel roll. Clor-aid was like Clorets (too close in fact, they got sued by American Chicle over it in a massive suit around this time) and it had no comics or inserts but those Bazooka nickel rolls did (looks like three for ten cents) and the comics wrapped up in those are the toughest ones to find, predating Bazooka Joe by a year. Wings was massively overproduced despite its popularity. You can still find nice raw sets of those in the mid-hundreds of dollars.

Cool pics, still love seeing them

Love the Post display. I'm assuming most stores put the promo pieces into the trash when the promotion was over. Those are probably worth for than the cards now. If I can't get a way-back machine, how about a Delorean?

Not so way back
 

Hmm, I think the latter, if the convenience store in my area was still selling:

Nov 7, 2022 — After an hours long delay stretching into Tuesday morning, one winner in California received the record-breaking $2.04 billion grand prize.

That would buy a lot of 1952 and 1953 Topps cards, I guess.:rolleyes: