The history of baseball cards is almost as long as the history of the game itself. Some of the earliest recognizable baseball cards date back to the late 1800s, though they were more memorabilia than the packaged cards we see today. In the early 1900s, cigarette and candy companies began including baseball cards in their products as incentives to buy more. This helped grow the popularity of collecting baseball cards tremendously.
One of the first major baseball card companies was the Bowman Gum Company, founded in 1929. Bowman saw the success tobacco brands were having by including sports cards in their packs and decided to try it with gum. Their first series debuted in 1929 and featured players from the National League. This helped kick off the golden age of baseball cards that would last through the 1950s.
Some key things about early Bowman baseball cards:
The 1929 and 1930 sets only featured National League players as the American League was not included in licensing deals at that point. This makes cards from these early sets quite rare today.
Production quality was still developing in the late 1920s/early 1930s. Many cards were printed on thinner paper stock and have survived in much poorer condition than those that would follow.
Bowman experimented with different sizes for their cards in these early years before standardizing on the familiar 21⁄2 x 31⁄2 size that would become the norm.
Players were not paid or contracted for their likenesses to appear on cards at this point. Including a player was at the discretion of the card company.
During the 1930s, Bowman began issuing full league sets that included both the National and American Leagues, as licensing had expanded. The quality of the cards also improved significantly. Bowman established itself as one of the top brands, along with Goudey and Topps.
World War 2 impacted the production of all non-essential consumer goods, including baseball cards. From 1942-1945, no new cards were released as factories shifted focus to the war effort. This interruption makes cards produced immediately before and after the war particularly valuable today.
After the war, Bowman returned to the baseball card market with gusto. In 1948, they issued one of the most iconic and valuable sets in the hobby – the 1948 Bowman Baseball set. Features of this phenomenal set include:
Introduced the color-tinted photo style that would be a Bowman signature for many years and featured future Hall of Famers like Stan Musial and Ted Williams.
Rated a high-grade ’48 Bowman card of Musial just sold at auction for over $1 million, showing the demand for this historic set.
Cards had vivid color and sharpness far superior to any prior. Printing technology had advanced greatly in the post-war years.
Size was increased slightly to 2 5/8 x 3 5/8 inches, which remains the standard size of modern cards today.
High quality paper stock was used that has enabled many cards to survive in amazing condition even over 70 years later.
Bowman continued annual releases through the 1950s, maintaining their spot as one of the top three manufacturers along with Topps and Fleer. Some notable Bowman sets and aspects in the decade include:
1949 – Introduced the color-tinted photo style that would define Bowman sets for many years.
1950 – Considered one of the most aesthetically pleasing designs of the era. Features team logo in banner at top.
1951 – Last year of color-tinted photos, switched to solid-colored borders after this.
1952/1953 – Adopted a clean design with white borders that showed off the photos very well.
1954 – Added more player stats and career highlights on the back of the cards for the first time.
1955 – Last year of the classic Bowman “logo man” design on the fronts that had been used since 1949.
1958 – Final year of Bowman cards during the “golden age” as the company exited the baseball card market after 29 years.
So in summary – Bowman paved the way as one of the first major baseball card manufacturers, defined many aesthetic standards still used today, and produced some of the most valuable vintage sets in the first three decades of the 20th century. While they ceased baseball card production in 1958, their immense influence and historic sets from the late 1920s/1930s and 1940s/1950s remain legendary in the hobby.
