OT: Revisiting the D302 Jackie Robinson Bond Bread Release Date

[CharleyBrown]

Over the past year, I've done quite a bit of research that has answered many of the questions about this set.

Much of my research findings can be seen in this incredible lot in the upcoming November auction from Goldin Auctions:

https://goldinauctions.com/Extremely...-LOT27398.aspx

I don't wish to copy / paste, as seeing all the cards together as one set is quite amazing, but here's a summary of the write up:

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, and also in promotional packages with two slices of bread and coupons.

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.

In the summer of 1948, the next batch of 6 cards were distributed to all major baseball cities (targeting black communities). These cards included: Glove in Air, Leaping No Scoreboard, Fielding No Ball in Glove, Fielding Ball in Glove, Awaiting Pitch and Batting White Sleeves. The Glove in Air and Leaping No Scoreboard were limited in their distribution, which is why they are far scarcer than any other card in the set.

In the summer of 1949, the remaining 6 cards were released. These cards included: Sliding (photo taken during the July 2, 1949 game against the Giants), Leaping Scoreboard, Batting No Sleeves, Throwing, Running Down Baseline and Running to Catch Ball. The Throwing and Batting No Sleeves cards were also limited in distribution, which makes sense given their scarcity.

As such, it is now known that the Jackie Robinson Bond Bread set was not a regional issue, but instead, was distributed to all major baseball cities (Montreal, Detroit, New York, St. Louis, etc. etc.), and it's official release date should be 1947-1949, with the bio card being the lone 1947 release and his first nationally distributed baseball card, and the other 2 groups of 6 being released in 1948 and 1949 respectively.

The number of portrait-facsimile cards distributed by Bond Bread is staggering given the pop numbers today. Bond Bread's records indicate that 2 million portrait cards were distributed in September 1947 across all major cities from Montreal to St. Louis. Why so few are known to still exist is unknown. I am still hunting down population numbers from the 2 groups of 6 cards.

On another note... in my research, I have also discovered that the 1948 date assigned to the Old Gold cigarette cards of Jackie Robinson is incorrect. Both cards were released in 1947. The Kneeling in Dugout card was actually released in September of 1947, and the Leaping card was released in October of 1947. As such, neither card was released in 1948 as was previously believed.

In fact, the Kneeling card that I own features a hand-written date of Sept 30th, 1947 written in pencil on the front of the card.



The MK surely detracts from the PSA grade, but I think it adds tremendous value to the card as it confirms the dating that I found in my research.