1949 Leaf Cards Skip Numbered?

[tedzan]

LEAF GUM continued to produce Non-Sports cards after 1949. And, in 1960 they issued a 144-card B & W BB set.

LEAF GUM's sportscards (Boxing, FB and BB) sets simply were skip-numbered as a clever "marketing trick" (Chicago
style), so that us kids in the late 1940's would keep buying cards.

And we did, by redeeming soda bottles by the wagonload for pennies to buy Leaf's. I probably spent $5 in pennies
before I completed my 1st series (49 cards) of the 1949 BB set. We never saw the 2nd series (short-printed cards)
in our neighborhood. Leaf distributed their 2nd series only in 4 regional areas (Boston, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio).


TED Z

[steve B]

I thought the 1960 set came with marbles and wasn't related to the gum Company? I seem to recall seeing a picture of an unopened pack of marbles with a card.

Steve B

[tedzan]

The LEAF Company of Chicago was founded by Sol and Marshall Leaf and has been around since the mid-1930's.
It has marketed trading cards under several names.....

Leaf Gum.....1948 (Sea Pirates, Boxing, Foot Ball sets)....1949 BB & FB sets
Leaf Confectionary (Non-Sports cards)
Sports Novelties, Inc., Chicago......1960 BB B&W set
Etc., etc.

After 1949, LEAF GUM stopped producing sportscards (for a decade), due to legal battles vs the BOWMAN GUM Co.

Marshall Leaf explained why LEAF skip-numbered cards...."that they would intentionally skip numbers to get kids to
try to collect the set."

This is certainly apparent in LEAF's 1948 Boxing cards and 1949 Base Ball & Foot Ball cards.

TED Z

[toppcat]

Wasn't Leaf bought by Donruss in the 80's? I forget where Donruss ended up (probably receivership) but Donruss cross marketed with Leaf in 1985 at a minimum.

[PolarBear]

Thanks for the info Ted. You must have some amazing memories ripping packs that most of the rest of us consider vintage from another era.

I saw a post in another thread about your 52 Mantle that you personally pulled from a pack. Again, simply amazing, and even more so that you kept your cards all through the years. I don't think I have anything (cards or otherwise) that I collected as a kid.

Did you follow the Yankees - Red Sox pennant race in 1949?

What was your favorite team and favorite player when you were a kid?

What cards were the favorite pulls from packs?


Hope you don't mind the staccato-like questions, but I'd love to hear some of your personal stories.

[steve B]

Thanks Ted. I'd heard years ago that the 1960 set was a different company, it's good to get the right story.

I never doubted the skip numbering as a sales ploy.

Didn't Topps get in trouble over a few missing numbers in the late 50's sets?

Steve B

[tedzan]

Due to conflicts with Bowman, the 1953 Topps set is missing 6 numbered cards.

Also, 4 #'s are missing in the 1955 Topps set.

I'm not aware of missing cards in the subsequent Topps sets.


Regards,

TED Z

[tedzan]

My responses to your inquiries......

1st......"I saw a post in another thread about your 52 Mantle that you personally pulled from a pack."

I opened up my very last BB card pack as a kid in the Fall of 1952 to find Chapman, Herman, Jeffcoat,
Spencer, and Mantle.


2nd......"Again, simply amazing, and even more so that you kept your cards all through the years."

I credit my dear Aunt Anna for saving all my cards while I was in the Air Force (1960-64). She lived with us after my Uncle passed away.


3rd......"Did you follow the Yankees - Red Sox pennant race in 1949? "

I did....I was a Yankees fan, since Phil Rizzuto lived 2 blocks from our home in Hillside, NJ. My favorite players at the time were Johnny
Lindell (who hit the 9th inning HR to beat the Red Sox in the last weekend of the 1949 season)..,.,and Joe Page, who would come into
relieve (as early as the 6th inning) in a game and completely shut down the opposing team.


4th......What cards were the favorite pulls from packs?

Besides the 1952T Mantle.......

In 1948 opening up a LEAF pack and getting Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis cards.

In the Spring of '49, opening up a LEAF pack and getting a Babe Ruth card.

In the Fall of '49, opening up a BOWMAN 5-cent pack and getting a Johnny Mize variation.
Mize had been traded to the Yankees in August 1949 which made me very happy. Johnny has always been one of my all-time favorite
BB players. When I got back into the hobby in the 1970's, I met Johnny several times (including visiting with him in Demorest, GA).

In the Fall of '49, opening up a BOWMAN 5-cent pack and getting George Stirnweiss as my final Yankees card in this set.

There are others; but, I remember these the best.


Regards,

TED Z

[Griffins]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Due to conflicts with Bowman, the 1953 Topps set is missing 6 numbered cards.

Also, 4 #'s are missing in the 1955 Topps set.

I'm not aware of missing cards in the subsequent Topps sets.


Regards,

TED Z

Ted, '58 Topps is missing #145 Ed Bouchee, after he was charged with some sort of sex crime.

[PolarBear]

Thanks Ted, neat stories!

Originally Posted by Griffins

Ted, '58 Topps is missing #145 Ed Bouchee, after he was charged with some sort of sex crime.

Yup, #145 missing. What always annoyed me about that though is when Topps got Musial on the hook late in the season and issued an all star card, they didn't go ahead an issue a regular Musial card as #145 to fill in the set. 1958 Topps would be an almost perfect baseball set if they had done that.