Nowbatting19.net presents... the  Bowman Gum page!

Jacob Warren Bowman was the founder of Bowman Gum. He originally founded Gum, Inc. which made some of the most famous "Non-Sports" card sets of the 1930s & 1940s. These included the extremely (& still popular) 1938 HORRORS OF WAR, 1936 G-Men & Heroes of the Law, 1940 SUPERMAN and more! After a falling out with his partner, Warren Bowman started again, this time using his last name as the name of the gum company- BOWMAN GUM, INC. of Philadelphia. Bowman, along with Leaf Gum of Chicago, have the distinction of producing the first mainstream sports picture cards since the end of World War II. 

On this page, we will show you Bowman baseball cards from 1948, the beginning, to their final set in 1955. We will also feature a LEAF GUM & FLEER subpage. That page will feature the 1948 & 1960 Leaf cards, as well as Fleer baseball from 1959-61, 1963, & some other goodies! 

Bowman's First Issue - 1948 

In 1948 Bowman issued a small size set of 48 baseball cards. The cards measure just 2-1/16" x2-1/2," & feature a simple black & white photo of the player on front. The back of the card has the player information, team, card number and a brief biography. Underneath the bio is ad for "Blony Bubble Gum," and a "Bowman Gum, Inc. Copyright 1948." This set has some major Hall of Fame players in it, and since it was the first mainstream set since 1941, it includes the "rookie" cards of Yogi Berra, Ralph Kiner, Stan Musial, Phil Rizzuto, & Warren Spahn, among others. 

1949 Bowman

Bowman enlarged it's set for 1949 to 240 cards. Perhaps inspired by Leaf's use of color on their 1948-49 All-Star Gum cards, Bowman did the same in 1949, using different colored backgrounds behind the player image. The image itself was a black & white photo, but with some color added (notably on the players caps & team names). The cards are the same size as the 1948 cards. The card backs use blue & red ink instead of the simple black used in 1948. Notable "rookie" cards in the set include Richie Ashburn, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Bob Lemon, Satchell Paige, Pee Wee Reese, Robin Roberts, & Duke Snider. But the 2 really BIG rookie cards in the set are the first two African Americans to play in the big leagues, Jackie Robinson & Larry Doby. The Jackie Robinson card is obviously the key card of the set. 

1951 Bowman - Mickey Mantle & Willie Mays Rookie Cards

In 1951 Bowman Gum provided the ONLY true ROOKIE cards of both MICKEY MANTLE & WILLIE MAYS. It just doesn't get any better than this folks! Bowman increased the size of the cards to 2-1/16" x 3-1/8," & now included 324 cards in the series. The backs clearly identify these as "1951 Series Baseball Picture Cards," along with the Copyright 1951 Bowman Gum Inc., Phila, Pa, U.S.A." It can't be stated enough how important these 2 cards are in the hobby. If you have one, the other, or both, you really have a cardboard treasure in your hands! 

1952 Bowman

The 1952 Bowman cards are similar to the previous year, except the card front now had a facsimile autograph, likely provided from the players card contract. There are 252 cards in the set. For some reason, Bowman had Stan Musial in their 1948 & 1949 sets, but NOT in 1950 or 1951. This must have been frustrating if you were a Cardinals fan. How can the Cardinals best player not be in the set? Bowman did provide a Musial card for 1952 & 1953, but NOT in 1954 & 1955. So if I were a Cardinals fan I would have been extremely miffed. Same with Ted Williams. He was NOT in the 1948-49 Bowman set, but IN the 1950-51 sets! Then off again in 52-53. 1954 is another story (get to that in a bit). But the BIG news in 1952 was the release of the new TOPPS GIANT Baseball cards. The Topps cards were larger in both size & cards than the 1952 Bowman cards. It put Bowman on notice that there was a new player in town, and it meant to take over the bubble gum picture card market. What would Bowman do for 1953?

1953 Bowman Color 

The 1954 Bowman baseball cards are a disappointment after their 1953 Color Series.  The cards have the players picture & below a facsimile autograph in a pastel colored panel. The card backs have past years statistics, along with lifetime totals up to that point. There is a brief biography and a baseball quiz at the bottom. The Bowman copyright is near the top border this time, above the bat with players name. Bowman, nor Topps had Stan Musial signed so again, no "Stan The Man." Jackie Robinson was not in the Bowman issue, but WAS in the 1954 Topps set. Topps signed key rookies Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks and Al Kaline, so that was a big blow for the Bowman set. Mantle IS in the 1954 Bowman set, while MIA from the Topps set. This was a huge headache for the kids I am sure, not to mention Bowman & Topps. Each was trying to sign the top players in their war for bubble gum supremacy. This is one of the few sets with a Mickey Mantle card, where Mantle is NOT the most popular card! And it's not Willie Mays either. It's TED WILLIAMS. Williams was missing from Bowman cards since 1951. Topps had never issued a Ted Williams card. So imagine how excited Topps was to sign a contract with the great TED WILLIAMS! Topps got so excited, they made 2 Williams cards for '54, cards #1 & #250 (the last card in the Topps set). Imagine Topps now when they find out BOWMAN had issued a Williams card of their own! Bowman issued card #66 Ted Williams, but had to stop the presses once Topps found out. So the 1954 Bowman #66 Ted Williams was short printed, or printed in lesser quantities than the other cards in the set. Bowman replaced the Williams by adding another Jimmy Piersall card; Piersall was already card #210 in the set. So they changed the number to #66 and that is the card that replaced the Ted Williams card. That was small condolence I am sure; two Piersall cards instead of a TED WILLIAMS card. The 1954 Bowman #66 Ted Williams card is a hobby classic now, & a 1954 Bowman baseball set is considered "complete" WITHOUT "Teddy Ballgame." It's not a rare card, but it is scarce & expensive. It trumps the Mantle card easily. 

• In comparison, the 1954 Topps card easily blow away the '54 Bowman cards. They have  extremely colorful backgrounds, with a large color portrait & a smaller black & white "action" photo as well. The backs are more entertaining too. Topps used cartoon highlights, in fact, the 1954 Topps #250 Ted Williams card has cartoon highlights of his career that takes up nearly all of the card back! Topps  certainly outdid Bowman for 1954. And  for Bowman Gum, Inc., the writing was on the wall...

1955 Bowman 'Color TV" Series - Bowman's final hurrah (& one cool  Mantle card!)

The 1955 Bowman "TV Series" was very innovative. Borrowing an idea possible from the 1950 Drake's Cookies black & white "TV" issue, Bowman created a horizontal "wood grain" Color TV with the player on the televison "screen." TV was in it's early days so I think this was very creative of Bowman. If they did borrow the idea from Drakes, they certainly improved on it. The 1955 Bowman cards have a biography that takes up nearly the entire back. Again Topps had a more colorful issue on both front & back, as well as a cartoon. Topps also had the key ROOKIE cards of both ROBERTO CLEMENTE & SANDY KOUFAX in their set. Bowman did NOT. Bowman did however have MICKEY MANTLE, while Topps did NOT. So the 1955 Bowman #202 Mickey Mantle card (pictured) is his final Bowman card, and the only mainstream Mantle card you could get in 1955. 

• NOTE. The "woodgrain" border used by Bowman was later utilized by Hires Root Beer in 1958, and Topps in 1962 & 1987.  Topps also created similar "wood-grain" horizontal cards for their 1966 Football & Hockey issues. 

• In 1956 Topps bought out Bowman for $200,000. The bubble gum war was over. But the competition between Bowman & Topps made for some classic cardboard in the 1950's. Some think the best decade for sports cards was the 1950s, & I am one of those. Bowman provided key rookie cards of Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, plus the famous 1954 Bowman #66 Ted Williams. Bowman certainly gave Topps some headaches during the 1950s.  Topps certainly owes a lot to Bowman. Eventually Topps resurrected the Bowman name and have produced Bowman cards since 1989. So the Bowman name lives on. A tip of the cap to Jacob Warren Bowman! He made a lot of kids happy!

Want more? Check out The Leaf & Fleer Page! 

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