For sheer beauty why not try for a 1953 Bowman color set. It's the shortest set of the 1950's with only 160 cards.
The Mantle and Snider are the "big $$" cards in it......and, they can be acquired for reasonable prices. I would say
the Yogi Berra card is the toughest one in this set.
You cannot beat the photographic quality of these cards....it's certainly my favorite set in the post-1950's era.
TED Z