Thanks to Shaun Fyffe, (net54baseball,com member: CharleyBrown). Who had put in a lot of hard work and research into the release date and distribution methods of the D302 Jackie Robinson Bond Bread set of 13. Who posted his findings on net54baseball,com.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showpo...51&postcount=1
We now know that the D302 set of Jackie Roblnson cards were issued in several different years, According to Mr. Shaun Fyffe and his research - the cards were issued in 1947 -1950. The above post gives a lot of facts and it is worth looking at, too much information to digest here. But I do want to point out some of the great research on what Mr. Fyffe did discover about how the cards were distributed, and where they were distributed.
“The Portrait – Facsimile card was given out in stores as a promotional item in 1947, and that is why there are so many more copies of that card in comparison to the others. We do not have enough information to determine how the other cards were distributed, though I have tracked down one card with the name of a small grocery store written on it. I am not sure if the writing was done by the store owner, or by the recipient of the card as a means to identify where he/she got it from. If the writing was done by a store owner, it is possible that the card was also given away as a promotional item, and it was not actually packaged in the bread itself. Perhaps the card was given away with the purchase of bread, though not actually inserted in the packaging? It is hard to tell without any other cards featuring similar writing or stamping. In scouring the archives, the majority of Bond Bread advertisements using Jackie Robinson that I could find were, in fact, from newspapers that targeted the African-American community.” Mr. Fyffe.
“It should be noted that, as early as June of 1947, African-American newspapers in all major baseball U.S. cities began running advertisements promoting Jackie's endorsement deal with Bond Bread, and also the availability of the promotional card. This is quite interesting, as it was initially believed that Branch Rickey would not allow Jackie to sign an endorsement deal until the season was over, as he didn't want it to be a distraction. Come September of 1947, the card's distribution expanded to every major city from Montreal to St. Louis. This Bond Bread set should no longer be considered a regional set for that very reason. As such, the Bond Bread facsimile-signature card should be considered Jackie's true rookie card / first nationally distributed rookie card.” Mr. Fyffe.
It has been assumed that the set D302 was released in 1947, and that the cards were distributed through packages of bread. But we know that the D302 cards were issued in several different years and never inserted in the bread packages. The first card was the Portrait-Facsimile card with the bio back. This card was first seen in Harlem in June / July of 1947, and was distributed by grocery store owners for free. The others in the set were issued in promo packs, with two slices of bread and coupons. John