Solicitation Initiation

I've been reorganizing the files here at the Main Topps Archives Research Complex and have been rediscovering a few things along the way.  To wit, this internal Topps memo from 1963 as the season's Baseball card shipments got underway.  The contents give a glimpse as to how Topps distributed their cards:

Each channel of distribution had its own peculiarities.  The "Syndicate and Drug Chains" got one additional configuration of packaging than the "Toy & Rak Jobbers" did..  I am not really conversant with the hidden language of the item numbering before the Commodity Codes were introduced in mid-1966, so am not clear on what that additional configuration was, but I can speak to how this was organized.  Also unclear is if this grouping  includes Woolworth's, which as a key early Topps retail partner.

Some time ago I posted a 1949 order sheet for a "Syndicate" that Topps distributed to and was a massive operation at the time, representing over 3,000 retail stores.  I've seen references to the drug chains previously as well, in particular Rexall's, which sold 1952 high numbers as far away as California.

Toy & Rak Jobbers makes sense to me as I used to buy Rak Paks at a toy store on Long Island in the early 70's.  That's two distribution channels without even mentioning the old tobacco jobbers (wholesale distributors) that had serviced Shorin products going back to the American Leaf Tobacco Company days that spanned 1908-38.

I have misplaced an article detailing how the various Topps unions and shifts dealt with specific jobbers but if I remember it correctly, certain unions or locals in Duryea only handled accounts for specific jobbers and I think it even divided up by shifts. So if you belonged to Scranton Local 229, you might only have been able to work on packing shipments going to the tobacco jobbers.

Some further research shows that Topps sold 12,000 card vending cases directly to some dealers (Fritsch Cards for sure), although I'm not sure how far back in time this goes, but the earliest days of Sam Rosen (later Card Collectors Company) in the 1950's are possible.

Foreign distribution, particularly to Venezuela, would have been handled in a similar manner, i.e. through some type of international distributor, but would have involved some type of customs clearance broker I would imagine.

The effort to market was immense as there were multiple series of Baseball cards each year back in the 60's. Topps had about 18 departments plus the executives handling everything from addressograph maintenance to ensuring ballplayers got their stipends or merchandise orders to run smoothly. I remain amazed how they were able to carve profits from these various exertions!

I'll see what else I can turn up on these distribution channels as I really want to find that article describing how the unions and shifts tied to the jobbers.

The Dimes,They Are A Changin'

Some pieces from an old Huggins & Scott auction give some insight into how aggressively Topps marketed products, even when they were on the cusp of obscurity.

By 1949 Topps Gum, the one cent, flagship confection for the company since its founding in 1938 was being supplanted at a rapid clip by Bazooka. Nicknamed the "Changemaker" in a clever sales PR campaign, the transition into a Chiclets style candy coated gum nugget was underway by the time penny tabs of Bazooka were introduced in '49. But you could not tell this by looking at some of their promotional materials for the year.

I can't quite make out the date but the below order sheet was included in a lot with other items from 1949, although the canister style makes me think it could be slightly earlier. Nonetheless, it shows the Changemaker nomenclature:

An order sheet with a date of March 12, 1949 is interesting on a couple of fronts.  You can see there is a Bazooka option along with the Topps Gum option. Bazooka was still only sold in five cent packaging at this point as the penny tabs did not show up until around October. More Changemaker verbiage comes through to boot but the highlight for me is the Consolidated Merchants Syndicate logo.  The syndicate brought together over 3,000 retail stores in a network that was almost certainly outside of Topps' old tobacco jobbers:

Here is a better look at the logo:

Need a point-of-sale decal?  No problem!

There are many variants of that penny canister. I know of foil and cardboard versions copyrighted 1942 and a foil one with a 1946 copyright.  I'm not sure if a 1949 version exists but it could as the one in this old subway ad remnant sold by Lelands a while ago is akin to the graphic on the CMS sheet:

There were still good years left for Topps Gum once it went over to the "nugget" side, although it was mostly distributed as part of US Military rations into the late 1950's.

I'm working to document all of the gum and canister styles Topps used from 1938-49 but it's an evolving project as so many variants keep popping up.  I've been using some Trademark and Patent databases but not all of the information on the brand seems to be available online.  So I'll keep posting here as new items present themselves.