1953 Bowman

[Lueth2048]

Thank you for the article. I was a faithful reader of Baseball Cards Magazine and remember reading this when it was first published.

Was the follow up article about the black and white set ever published?

[tedzan]

Lueth2048

I don't recall if a follow-up article regarding the 1953 BOWMAN B/W set was published.

If you have some questions about it, perhaps I can answer them.


TED Z
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[egri]

Ted,

Always a pleasure to read your articles. Thanks for posting.

[ALR-bishop]

In his book The Bubble Gum War: The Great Bowman and Topps Sets 1948 to 1955, Dean Hanley indicates that in response to the success of the Topps 1952 set Bowman counter attacked with color photography and bigger cards in 1953. The process was much more expensive than colorized B&W photos used by Bowman and Topps previously.

The Bowman 1953 set although critically acclaimed today did not undermine the Topps momentum and their 1953 set was well received in the market. Disappointing sales and cost considerations caused Bowan to go to B&W later in the year. Fleer would run into the similar issues in 1963 scuttling plans for a second series.

Happily for the Bowman family they had sold the business at it's height after the 51 season and it was the new owners that ran into the creativity of Sy Berger. The 55 set with the color TVs (which were at that time virtually unknown in most households) was their Battle of The Bulge

[Griffins]

Great article Ted, I learned a lot.

[Volod]

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:

[ALR-bishop]

That's interesting info, Steve

[almostdone]

Originally Posted by Volod

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:

Makes you wonder how much the use of his name and likeness (sort of) on a wrapper would cost the company. Interesting thought though. Thanks for sharing it Steve.
Drew