In his book,
Mint Condition, Dave Jamieson touches on production floor conditions at Topps during the 1950s-60s. He doesn't go into deep detail, but there are some nice tidbits.
Another great resource is The Topps Archives at
http://toppsarchives.blogspot.com. I am not sure there is more Topps history in one place anywhere else. Outside of Topps, of course. You will find days, weeks and months of Topps related reading. Given your zeal for our hobby Darren, you may already be familiar with this great site. I often go to the site with one specific issue in mind and get lost through so many off-topic clicks.
There is another, more recently published, booklet which details Topps' early years including the pre-card gum days. It is
The Modern Hobby Guide to Topps Chewing Gum 1938 to 1956 by Dave Hornish. It has great info on early 1950s competition with Bowman, production numbers, ownership trees. etc. This one may be a little earlier than your years of interest.