1953 or 1954 Topps?

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

I'm simply not a fan of artwork on cards from this late in the game, especially when this era produced some of the most beautiful photography in the history of the sport. I suppose I'm partial to seeing actual images of these players. There's something far more authentic about that experience.

1953 or '54 Topps? How about 1953 and 1954 Bowman? Talk about things of beauty. Man, have some of those those colors aged better than the finest spirits. Same goes for the previously mentioned '57 Topps photos.

[lumberjack]

Probably the best critique of Topps and Bowman comes from, "The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book," by Fred Harris.

They described a card from the '58 T set as looking as though a gravy boat landed on top of the man's head.

In order to cover all the bases, if a player was traded, they would shoot him without a baseball cap. Jeeze, everybody knows a baseball player wears a hat, otherwise they look like the guy who came over to fix your sink.

I think Topps got as good as it was going to get in 1957. TCMA tried to copy that about 18 years later.

As a kid, I was so wrapped up in owning the early 50s Bowmans that I never realized there were black lines around the players. It was as though Gauguin was working for Bowman Gum.