Boxing Day

I'm feeling a bit lazy today and thought I would just take a look at some interesting box graphics from the early days of Topps.

Very much a design that shows how quickly Topps issued this set in the wake of the Korean War, the Freedom's War box has some fairly basic graphics that don't really represent the great artwork in this set:

The "Save 'Em Trade 'Em" slogan was used across the Topps line of cards starting in 1950, appearing on retail and advertising pieces as a unifying meme to get the kids to buy more product.  It also was coincidental, excepting the reissues of Flags of the World and License Plates in their larger size, with their issuance of two card panels in nickel glassine and ten cent cello packs and ran until the end of 1951.  Fighting Marines was the first panelized set that didn't feature this wording since the beginning of 1950 so the campaign ran for almost two years.

Much more colorful was the Bring 'Em Back Alive box, which appeared before Freedom's War:

And before that, we had Hopalong Cassidy, which actually featured a photo and was the first entertainment property licensed by Topps:

Yo-yoing into 1951 Animals of the World had some decent graphics:

The motto isn't on the box but it is on the wrapper:

Baseball Candy even got into the act, as you can see on this scan of an ad provided by Friend o'the Archive John Moran:

Ringside?  Check:

Those ad back cards replicate the box graphics, one of Topps' best efforts I think. And ewhile we are in the sporting arena, let's not forget Magic Football:

Just like Animals of the World, you have to look at the wrapper to find the motto:

Now there is an anomaly out there as well and it belongs to Ed-U-Cards.  This 1952 photo from one of their ad campaigns is very intriguing, especially since Topps produced the Lone Ranger set for them in 1950 and there is a somewhat close connection with Baseball Candy:

Those early Ed-U-Cards graphics are not as cartony as their later issues and given the wording on the retail box, I am starting to wonder just how much of a connection there was between Topps and Ed-U-Cards.  Or maybe Solomon & Gelman's art agency is the connection.

Bouts & Pieces

I last wrote here about the 1951 Topps Ringside set last year, detailing a very impressive ad panel among other aspects of this landmark boxing and wrestling (five cards) issue.  I have now obtained a cut set of the eight cards that comprise this panel from Friend o'the Archive Adam Warshaw and they fit together like a, er, glove:

Reading across, you get card numbers: 21, 22, 23 and 47 in the top row and 4, 5, 6 and 30 in the bottom.  All those fit squarely within the first series of 48 cards, although Adam advises both series have been seen with these backs:

There are similar panels for Fighting Marines, another 96 card set issued in two series of 48, although those seem a bit harder to find and I am unable to post examples today.  There were three other sets issued in this size (2 1/16" x 2 15/16"): Magic Football (1951), Look 'N' See (1952) and Scoop (1954). Fighting Marines was to have been a 1951 set but it was delayed into 1952; my guess is it came out just after Ringside. The ad backs replicate the box top art in Ringside and Fighting Marines; Magic Football did not have such colorful graphics and I can't recall ever seeing an ad backed version of cards from that set. Look 'N' See and Scoop did have colorful graphics on their retail boxes but again, I have not seen any ad backs from those two sets.

Too bad Topps did not make more ad panels for their earlier sets like these.  There are numerous types of ad and salesmen's panels they did produce from this era, of course, but they are not done in the same format nor are they nearly as nice as these.

The Sweet Science

Topps was looking for different paths to success with their trading cards in 1951.  They had mixed results with the Baseball Candy issues that year while Magic Football, given that it was four years before another pigskin product was issued, seems a likely money loser for the firm.  The non-sport issues generally ran to sequels (Animals of the World, succeeding Bring 'Em Back Alive) and "stamps" printed on the nickel Bazooka gum stiffeners) and it has occurred to me that the Topps may not have been flush with cash in '51. One set however, does stand out a bit: Ringside.

Assigned an ACC catalog number of R411 by Jefferson Burdick, Ringside was issued in two series of 48 in 1951 and featured boxers, mostly very well known and a handful of wrestlers. Measuring 2 1/16" x 2 15/16" the cards measured almost a half inch taller than the Animals of The World cards, the larger size Ringside cards were probably issued after Topps switched to a new printer following a host of difficulties with the finish on the Red and Blue Back cards issued with Baseball Candy.  These difficulties ultimately led to a lawsuit as the caramel issued with the baseball cards was being made rancid by the coating used on them.  This transition to a larger card also dovetails with Bowman's increase in size going into 1951.

According to Adam Warshaw, author of the annual America's Greatest Boxing Cards, available thru a link on his equally engaging website, the high numbers are about twice as difficult as the lows and the only major boxer missing from the set was Jack Dempsey.  The set did have Rocky Marciano though, an up-and-comer in the heavyweight division and about a year away from taking the belt from Jersey Joe Walcott (who had two cards in the set).

The card backs are typical of those issued by Topps at the time, as are the penny and nickel wrappers, all below:

The last line, in red, on the nickel wrapper states "Build Your Own Collection of Modern Fistiania"!  Those nickel packs held panels, probably three in number, of two cards and a big stick of gum.

 

You can see the nubs that hold the panel together quite clearly in the middle,  here is a good look at a card separated from its partner:

I'll not add any snarky comments and let that pose speak for itself......I think it highly probable that the Ringside panels came in Trading Card Guild cello packs as well but I am not sure if there is any conclusive evidence of that.  The box had some stellar graphics:

Eight card advertising panels also exist: 

It's the back of the ad panel that is the real stunner though.  Replicating the box top graphics, this is one of the all time great Topps ad pieces IMHO:

Individual cards are sometimes found with portions of the ad piece on the back; these are obviously hand cut but are sometimes referred to as "puzzle backs".