Decoding the “why” of 1948/1949 Leaf Sets

[yanks87]

Update for those interested in my project to unravel the questions and oddities of the 1949 Leaf baseball set, as well as the other issues from 1948. The main focus of my research is trying to explain not only WHY there were so many inconsistencies, but also why more of the variations are not recognized, even though they are. I recently had a conversation with Dr. James Beckett on his podcast. We were able to talk through several things, validating a couple of my thoughts, and of course bringing up some more questions of course.

Another update is that PSA has declined to start recognizing the late print variations that have been discussed on another thread. The cliff notes for those who don’t want to navigate that thread, there were at least 3 series of changes made to printing plate of the non short print 49 card run. The biggest change in the late printing was that the details on the black plate were removed, making the hat colors solid. There is one of these variations accepted by the industry, Kent Peterson, which goes from a black hat to a red hat. This variation runs through all 49 cards in the first series, but the rest of the variations are not recognized though they are obvious once you know what you’re looking for.

This update is focused on where the cards were printed. The low quality control and registration runs rampant through ALL of the Leaf sets. I have long believed that the cards were printed on the same presses that the candy boxes were printed on. The factory on North Cicero was massive, and Sol Leaf was a candy man first, so having it all under one roof makes perfect sense. I was able to pick up a late 40’s Leaf candy box to compare the stock and see if they are indeed the same. I used a ‘48 boxing card from my collection that has no back print. As the pictures below show, they match up. Also, I visited the Chicago History Museum to check out the estate of Marshall Leaf, son of founder and found the photo that I believe shows the printing and assembly floor. I zoomed in to show the full sheets that are tacked up on the presses. I think the cards were printed by the same crew that did the boxes, pushing the process to a 4 color print, which yielded all the registration issues. Printing on site means they could be packaged and sent out with the rest of the candy.

If this is indeed the case, it would explain the low quality across the board, as well as the inconsistent ink colors. Leaf was not a card company, they were candy first, but created a fascinating research project for my father and I!