Bowman's 1953 economy measures
I have read that the real, or at least most pressing, reason that Bowman issued the final series of 64 cards in its 1953 set in black and white, rather than color was the heavy anchor that DiMaggio's endorsement contract turned out to be. Of course, there's no question that the Kodachrome color process was more costly than black and white, but the wording of Joe D's contract apparently tied his payoff directly - probably exclusively - to the color cards. Consequently, Bowman could easily cut him out of the production cost simply by eliminating color and dropping Joe from the wrapper, which see for evidence:
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