Let’s rehash the Bond Bread controversy.

[Johnphotoman]

Is it true that SGC is grading square Bond Bread cards again? John

[Johnphotoman]

But wait… you know who else was selling square corner cards around the same time as David Festberg? The Baseball card society (BCS) and thanks to butchie_t from net54baseball.com we know what they were offering. Butch was kind enough to provide scans of his cards and the letters he received from BCS. There might be a clue as to where and how David Festberg was selling his cards. My theory is he did not find them in a warehouse or acquired them in an unscrupulous manner, he purchased them from a widow's dealer who had a big collection- no colossal collection of square corner cards we call Bond Bread.

I believe there is a tie in between the Festberg find and the BCS cards. I kind of let the cat out of the bag…”widow’s dealer”. Let’s read from some of the letters from BCS that Butch provided: It says that BSC was offered a limited number of the very famous 1947 Homogenized Bond baseball card set. It describes the Bond Bread set, and then it says, all the baseball cards that weren’t put in bread packages were stored in a dusty warehouse, and quite literally, forgotten about when they went out of business. Many years later a famous collector discovered the cards in a warehouse and snapped up all the cards, how many it does not say, maybe 70,000 cards. but properly less.

This is just a guess, there is no real proof of how many cards there were. I have based this on press production and the paper shortage at the time and the population of baseball cards printed circa 1947. Because of the paper shortage at that time, Aarco would not take a chance on a large production of cards (population) of printed cards. For those of you who did not know - the total population of a set of baseball cards…is the total number of cards that were printed. For example the total population of 1947 Bond Bread Jackie Robinson baseball cards was 328,592. Today the number of baseball cards produced each year (population) is about 1 to 2 million.

Let’s say they wanted to print 10,000 sets of 48 cards. It would take 10,000 sheets of paper to print 48 cards to a set for a total of 480,000 cards total. I believe it would have been less than that, say 5,000 cards set of 48 making 240,000 cards. That would take 5,000 sheets of paper. Few baseball cards were produced in the mid-1940s -1950s due to paper shortages during World War II. 240,000 cards would have been alot of cards. Production resumed in the United States in 1948, with the Bowman Gum and Leaf Candy Company releasing cards.

Now pay attention to what the BCS letter says: Ironically- he died (the dealer) a few months ago and his widow offered us (BCS) the card sets that remained. This was circa 1980s. What does it say, “offered BCS the cards that remained.

Sounds like a familiar story, warehouse find, but it ends there. Notice it says the find was by a famous collector- who snapped up all the cards. Sounds like he purchased the cards circa 1950s-1960s. The collector did not just find them sitting around, he discovered Aarco had the cards in a warehouse and offered to buy them. More or less he purchased them from Aarco and when he died circa 1980s his widow put them up for sale. Who was there to snapped up the cards, David Festberg and BCS.

It is believed that Festberg had about 20,000 cards, no clue as to how many BCS had, but I would believe no more than 5,000 - 20,000. Ok let's say David Festberg did buy his cards from this widow, notice it says BCS brough the cards that were left.

I think the story behind a David Festberg warehouse find comes from this story. Something else to look at is the BCS letter says-the 1947 Bond Bread set was printed for only one year, contained 48 cards in all. And that they purchased the best of the set- 24 cards in all from the dealer’s widow. The story of the Festberg cards having 24 cards to its set -come from this story as well. I believe that a famous collector brought all the Aarco cards with square corners and when he died his widow sold most of the cards to David Festberg and BCS brought the remaining cards.

Therefore the BCS and Festberg cards are the exact same cards as the 48 card set printed at the same time. This explains why they are both on the exact same paper stock. Some believe that the BCS images of 24 cards are the same on the Festberg, but we do not have a true list of names for the Festberg cards, they could easily be any of the 48 card set. We do not know how many of the 48 cards Festberg had in its set. It could have 24 ,48 or any number in the set.

We need someone who knows, someone who purchased a whole set from David Festburg to speak up. If he did sell a whole set or just individual cards. John

[Johnphotoman]

Understand there is a more logical order of how and when the squared corner cards were issued. It does appear that Ted Z and others wanted the round cards to be the first issue, because they did bend the truth to fit their agenda. This investigation has shown that there is no empirical or tangible evidence for this theory, other than that is what people wanted the narrative to be. We have empirical and tangible evidence that the square cut cards were circa 1947.
What is that evidence? People who have said they saw the squared corner cards circa 1947. Yes, people like Ted Z said, they saw the cards in 1949, but that does not mean an issue date of 1949. That is probably when they did first see the cards, and that is the problem. Just because these people did not see the cards in 1947 does not mean they were issued in the year they saw them (1949). If they were the case, Bond Bread did not come out until the 1960, because that is when I first saw one.

For the sake of confusion, just for now - let's call the 1947 round and square cornered card the “Main Bond Bread Set”. Some of the other sets associated with Bond Bread were printed and issued before 1947. Yes, there were other sets associated with Bond Bread that were issued circa 1949-1950, but none of them were from the main 1947 sets. I understand that it would be possible to take the 1947 main Bond Bread sets and reissue them circa 1949-1950s or later, but there is no proof that there was ever a reissue of 1947 main Bond Bread cards: in any form or time. On the other hand, we have first hand knowledge for the issuing of the main Bond Bread cards circa 1947, information gathered through direct collecting of the cards.

What we do know is that the Bond Bread cards inserted into loaves of bread were more an East coast regional issue of cards. Whereas the squared corner cards we call Bond Bread W571 were more a nation issue. Think about them as you would S&H Green Stamps. For those of you who don’t know-S&H Green Stamps were a loyalty rewards program that allowed customers to earn stamps at participating retailers. The stamps could be collected in booklets and redeemed for products from the S&H catalog. This program became popular nationwide.The squared corner cards were kind of like that, retailers would give them out, they were distributed as part of a rewards program to customers.

Customers would receive the cards at the checkout counter of supermarkets, department stores and gasoline stations among other retailers. All information points to Aarco Playing Card company, as the company that offered the cards to retailers. This is why we can not find a single issuer of cards but many different issuers of the cards. This is why people say they receive their cards from many different retailers. Retailers had a choice of subjects to choose from, Sports Stars, Cowboys, Hollywood Screen Stars, cards were all offered for sale by Aarco Playing company as a loyalty rewards program for retailers: and the evidence is that the loyalty rewards program cards were all printed with square corners. Yes, other cards were offered for sale in boxes or sheets but they had round corners or were perforated cards.

We do know that Bond Bread had a rewards program or say free promotional giveaway with their D 302 Jackie Robinson set. The 13 cards that make up the 1947 Jackie Robinson Bond Bread set were available for free at grocery stores and other distribution methods. See ad from the August 19, 1947 Baltimore Afro American Newspaper, it seems to back this up. See the promotional ad that says: Free offer! Your grocer will give you a pocket-size reproduction of this Jackie Robinson photograph free for the asking. Get yours today.


Although the square cut cards W571 set, has long been believed that they were promo cards, like the D302 from Bond Bread, there is no proof for Bond Bread being the distributor. All information suggests Aarco was the seller and manufacturer of these cards. Aarco would sell the W571 square set to any retailer who wanted to distribute the cards. We understand that the D305 set of Jackie Robinson Bond Bread cards was an East coast regional promo issue of cards. Whereas the squared corner cards we call Bond Bread W571 were more a nation promo issue for any business to use. The W571 set includes all square cut cards like the David Festberg warehouse find of Bond Bread cards in the 1980s, and the BCS sets offered in 1988.

[Johnphotoman]

Thanks to Shaun Fyffe, (net54baseball,com member: CharleyBrown). Who had put in a lot of hard work and research into the release date and distribution methods of the D302 Jackie Robinson Bond Bread set of 13. Who posted his findings on net54baseball,com.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showpo...51&postcount=1

We now know that the D302 set of Jackie Roblnson cards were issued in several different years, According to Mr. Shaun Fyffe and his research - the cards were issued in 1947 -1950. The above post gives a lot of facts and it is worth looking at, too much information to digest here. But I do want to point out some of the great research on what Mr. Fyffe did discover about how the cards were distributed, and where they were distributed.

“The Portrait – Facsimile card was given out in stores as a promotional item in 1947, and that is why there are so many more copies of that card in comparison to the others. We do not have enough information to determine how the other cards were distributed, though I have tracked down one card with the name of a small grocery store written on it. I am not sure if the writing was done by the store owner, or by the recipient of the card as a means to identify where he/she got it from. If the writing was done by a store owner, it is possible that the card was also given away as a promotional item, and it was not actually packaged in the bread itself. Perhaps the card was given away with the purchase of bread, though not actually inserted in the packaging? It is hard to tell without any other cards featuring similar writing or stamping. In scouring the archives, the majority of Bond Bread advertisements using Jackie Robinson that I could find were, in fact, from newspapers that targeted the African-American community.” Mr. Fyffe.

“It should be noted that, as early as June of 1947, African-American newspapers in all major baseball U.S. cities began running advertisements promoting Jackie's endorsement deal with Bond Bread, and also the availability of the promotional card. This is quite interesting, as it was initially believed that Branch Rickey would not allow Jackie to sign an endorsement deal until the season was over, as he didn't want it to be a distraction. Come September of 1947, the card's distribution expanded to every major city from Montreal to St. Louis. This Bond Bread set should no longer be considered a regional set for that very reason. As such, the Bond Bread facsimile-signature card should be considered Jackie's true rookie card / first nationally distributed rookie card.” Mr. Fyffe.

It has been assumed that the set D302 was released in 1947, and that the cards were distributed through packages of bread. But we know that the D302 cards were issued in several different years and never inserted in the bread packages. The first card was the Portrait-Facsimile card with the bio back. This card was first seen in Harlem in June / July of 1947, and was distributed by grocery store owners for free. The others in the set were issued in promo packs, with two slices of bread and coupons. John

[Johnphotoman]

All this time I have been spelling ARRCO Playing Card company as Aarco. That is wrong: At the Chicago’s World’s Fair in 1933-34 Arrow Playing Card Co., introduced its new identity as ARRCO. John

[Johnphotoman]

Who did find a warehouse with Bond Bread cards in it? Where did BCS get their cards? What do these two stories have in common - we cannot believe either of the two stories. For reasons discussed earlier, those two stories does not make any sense to many collectors.

Most of us know the story of David Festberg selling trading cards in the 1980s. Most of us heard he found a stash of Bond Bread cards in 1988. But we have reason to believe the Festberg warehouse story is a rumor.

Most of us know that BCS sold Bond Bread cards in the 1980s. BCS is said to have purchased their cards from a widows dealer. Is that a true story? Can we trust what BCS said in a letter about the cards they had for sale?

When questioned by Ted Z, Festberg acted like he knew nothing about finding a stash of Bond Bread cards in a warehouse, we have other reasons to believe that there was no warehouse find by David Festberg! The BCS letters are not without their share of controversy. Stanley Apfelbaum was a hustler, and a person of questionable character. A little bit of background, “The Baseball Card Society” was founded in 1988 by Stanley Apfelbaum as a way to sell baseball cards to subscribers for a fee, of course plus shipping and handling. Stanley Apfelbaum, a former numismatist of telemarketing fame. Although Mr. Apfelbaum is no longer with us; his reputation for boiler room tactics, altering coins, and frankly ripping off investors in the coin world still is.

While we can not say that BCS was a scam, it was not as truthful as could have been. Mr. Apfelbaum told some truth in his promotional letters, but much of what he had to say was just hype or a flat out lie to sell baseball cards. As for the Bond Bread cards, he added a lot of hype to sell the set for more money then they were worth at the time. But much of the hype was fact, the facts were just embellished.

It is almost certain that Mr. Apfelbaum did buy his cards from a big time widows collector. But he did not buy the best of the best, a 24 card set out of a 48 card set, he brought what was left. It was just hype to say BCS purchased the best of a 48 card set, 24 in all. The BCS cards were not cards left over that did not make it into Bond Bread loaves of bread, just more hype and a lie. The cards were not from Bond Bread 1947, but they were from 1947.

I did try to figure out who was that big time dealer who passed away and their widow sold off the collection. I had no luck, but I will keep looking. Sadly I believe that information is lost.

Many of the hobby’s pioneers came to mind. Jefferson Burdick who was on a different level then everybody else. Jefferson Burdick a collector of printed ephemera, he is best known for collecting trading and baseball cards. Burdick is often considered to be the greatest card collector in history,and has been called "The Father of Card Collecting. He started The American Card Catalog, otherwise known as the ACC. He died in 1963. But Burdick donated his entire collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1947. Writing in 1948, he stated his belief that it should be "a national collection belonging to everybody.

Then there was Larry Fritsch- but he died December 8, 2007. How about Renata Galasso, but she was a woman- also still alive. Renata was quite a business woman. The story goes that she started putting together sets and selling them as a way to pay for college in the early 70's, and ended up growing the business to the point where she called herself the "Worlds Largest Hobby Card Dealer".

Alan Rosen "Mr. Mint"- died January 24, 2013) was an American sports collectibles dealer who was especially active in the 1980s and 1990s. None of the above could be that famous collector.

More to come: What I have is long, so I have broken it up in parts. The last part may be the smoking gun. John.

[Johnphotoman]

The Smoking Gun-

First I have given thought as to when all the confusion around the cards we call Bond Bond became mainstream. It was around 1988 when we as collectors did see more confusion, mayhem, and chaos come to a head around the cards we call Bond Bread. Before 1988 old-timers did not have the cares we do today around the cards we call Bond Bread. So I have tried connecting with these old-times to see what they knew that we do not. I have posted what these old-timers have told me. But I can only say that information has given us only about a 90% understanding of the confusion around the cards we call Bond Bread.
I have been looking for that smoking gun that would give us 100% proof. I believed that proof could come from what Ted Z posted in Net54baseball. But most of what I read did more harm than good. What Ted Z posted in Net54baseball added to the confusion.

(1947 BOND BREAD and its "imposters"....show us your cards? ) by Ted Z; did cause a lot of confusion. But that post has also given some of the answers… to that confusion. Dave Hornish is just one who posted in Net54baseball, I see this as the smoking gun. It has been there all this time…4/7/2009. I believe that David Hornish post has the answer to most of the confusion around the square cut cards and Festburg cards we call Bond Bread W571., and the BCS cards.

Dave Hornish posted in: 1947 BOND BREAD and its "imposters"....show us your cards? An article from Sports Collectors Digest, by Bob Schulhof, January 22, 1993. Dave Hornish: “I have been reading this thread with interest and have now scanned a 1/22/93 SCD article concerning the 24 card "subset". Whether or not the author's comments are all true I cannot say but it does shed some light no matter”

Shed some light, that is understated, maybe not when David Hornish posted that statement. But with all the information that has come forward from this investigation that article does confirm what other eyewitnesses have said. For me it is the confirmation that was needed, I now have no problem in saying- the information I have given is 99% correct. More to come. John