1962 Jello Baseball Box

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by 62corvette

Brian,
In terms of scarcity, which year is harder to find in terms of unfolded boxes? 62 or 63? I have 3 unfolded 63’s I picked up in about 1974 or so. Warwick and 2 Osteens from different flavors.
Thanks

Hey Mike E.

That is a tough question for which I could not begin to answer, but in m' own inimitable way, I have a few words to say. On the one hand, the 1962 JELL-Os were a test issue, marketed only in the Chicagoland area and Milwaukee. While the 1963 JELL-Os were a nationwide release, the matter of unfolded boxes will likely remain a mystery as to their existence. As I wrote in NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, either a workman at the company that printed the JELL-O boxes grabbed a few as souvenirs, or some were used for promotional purposes of some sort, or even a JELL-O promotions division meeting to discuss their test baseball card campaign, or in '63, their imminent coast to coast "free card" offering. Regardless, they were saved and not destroyed, fortunately. Mind you, no customers at the supermarkets would have had access to unfolded boxes. Never. At the time, such souvenirs were essentially worthless, anyway. In 1962-63, the adult baseball card hobby was tinzie-weenzie, and highly unorganized. The prices were minuscule. It took until the last year of the 60s for this to BEGIN to change.

As the adult baseball card hobby skyrocketed, and John Q. Public became aware that older baseball cards might be worth some money, little by little, those souvenirs saved in a drawer or box in a closet of personal "stuff", began to be dug out and brought to a baseball card show to sell. Someone like Mr. Mint Alan Rosen was always interested in rare, unusual pieces, especially if they were in pristine condition. He knew the dyed in the wool collector loved these sorts of items, as did Alan when he was a voracious collector. How would I know that? Alan Rosen told me so in the priceless phone interview he granted me when I was researching my book.

In fact, the pair of unfolded boxes I own were both purchased at the big Philly show in the fall of 1988, one of them from Mr. Mint himself. It cost a pretty penny then, but I had never heard of, nor seen, a virtually mint UNFOLDED 1962 JELL-O baseball card box. So intriguing. So unusual. What an escape from the conventional!

Love at first sight.

This was NOT the time to quibble, or haggle, or wait and sleep on it, to think about it. NO! I BOUGHT THAT GORGEOUS, ENORMOUSLY RARE '62 JELL-O UNFOLDED BOX RIGHT THEN AND THERE! I paid The Mint Man's price. Worth every penny I spent. It's now been almost 30 years later, and I still treasure it. The first box I bought that night, with none other than Mickey Mantle as the free prize card, wound up on the cover of NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN.

Sorry, here I get going with my enthusiasm for these babies!

Mike E., I'm sorry I cannot give you an answer. You'd have to scour old Mastro auction catalogs, and boxes of back-issues of Sports Collectors Digests from the late 70s til the late 90s. As you probably well remember, that's when SCD was thick---over 200 pages loaded with ads and great articles. Let me just say that I would scrutinize my SCDs back in the late 80s, cover to cover, looking for postwar regional / food rarities I did not have. Seldom-to-rarely would a year's worth of SCD back then contain an advertisement offering an unfolded JELL-O box. They were few to be had, and once offered and sold, they were regarded as prized pieces and special favorites that stayed in those collections for many years. I mean, the collector fortunate enough to own one jolly well understood that if he parted with it, he'd NEVER get it back, or likely see another again. That's an unusually hard thing for most collectors to grasp, since many haven't been in that situation, because they're usually concentrating on collecting mainstream gum or tobacco cards. When you get into postwar regional / food, you really escape the ordinary. It's a different world. Anybody can get a 1954 Topps Henry Aaron rookie. IF you've got the discretionary boo coo, there are literally hundreds of 1952 Topps Mickey Mantles out there, which is honestly very good for the hobby.

Back to Hank Aaron. Consider and ponder his 1967 Coca-Cola premium, as printed for them by Dexter Press. That huge card is one of The Hammer's finest, most breathtaking "free prizes" to be seen---a real gem. Sure, Hank's rookie is worth more, as is his '67 Topps, in top condition. Nevertheless, I would select Henry's '67 Coke premium in a heartbeat. At the time the '67 Coca-Cola premiums were issued, ONLY CONSUMERS IN GEORGIA WOULD HAVE HAD ACCESS TO COKE BOTTLES WITH ATLANTA BRAVE PLAYERS UNDER THE CAPS. YOU HAD TO SWILL LOTS OF COKE TO COLLECT ALMOST ALL OF THE BRAVES CAPS, TO REDEEM THEM AT A COCA-COLA BOTTLER FOR A DEXTER PRESS BRAVES TEAM SET OF 12, WHICH OF COURSE INCLUDED HAMMERIN' HANK AARON. Just an example. There's much more to the 1967 Coca-Cola premium story, but you'll have to buy NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN to find out. Sorry, but you know .....

Please excuse me; again, the author gets to waxing lyrical about his subject.

You may never get a concrete answer on which of the 2 years did the most JELL-O unfolded boxes survive. All you can do is continue to ask around, and get all sorts of opinions, or looks of "huh?" I seriously doubt anyone knows. Look for yourself at the major auction house catalogs, or even eBay, though I doubt checking eBay would turn up any, though there are certain eBay dealers that specialize in the postwar regional / food. However, one of them is known for his "museum prices". This is when he could truthfully chide you with the old dealer line, "Try to find another." You could go to the National at Cleveland this year, and wear yourself out walking the aisles, studying each table. There are a few dealers that specialize in just this sort of exotic rarity. Nevertheless, the thrill of the hunt will only be thrilling if you spot one. Be prepared mentally and psychologically for sticker shock.

Trust me, your JELL-O unfolded boxes are each genuinely rare, and fully worthy of the adjective.

Well, enough of my palabre.

Happy hunting, friend. --- Brian Powell