Waxy Buildup

Topps included all sorts of things in their packs over the years, to the point there are as many things inserted with the regular issue as their are regular issues! Some of these were related to the set being retailed, some not but very early on Topps started including premium offers for all sorts of things.  These were essentially for the same premiums eventually offered on Bazooka comics, starting in 1952 or so but before Topps caught on to promoting these items on the comics they used a catalog system, augmented by small inserts that came with their penny pack offerings starting in 1948-49. I've looked at some previously but have acquired some new ones of late and thought they warranted another post.

You can tell the first couple of releases of these as the first batch of inserts had numbering from #101-108 and second started at #109.  This is one of the early ones then, probably from early 1949:

That #112 offer above was repeated and redrawn, as this one features "Bazooka, The Atom Bubble Boy", who I believe came first in the real world but second in the inserts.  "Bazooka" was the original Topps mascot character and thankfully he did not outlast the 40's.

Once you get to #120 or so they are from the early 50's methinks and then Topps just started mixing and matching.  Things got well in the 400's eventually.

Here's a bunch, courtesy of BFF o'the Archive Jeff Shepherd that all likely predate Bazooka Joe & His Gang, who debuted in mid 1954:

These would have been wrapped around the penny piece of Bazooka, along with a comic, so there were two discrete inserts.

The larger five cent Bazooka gum rolls had their own inserts and two of them them relate to baseball premium offers.  These are two separate pieces obviously and don't quite fit together here, but you can see how they fit together.  I think these commenced in 1955 given the expiration date of June 30, 1956 and likely continued into the early part of the latter year.  I could see them being inserted into wax packs for the '55 & '56 Baseball cards. Bazooka Joe and his brother Pesty are front and center by now:

Those pennants were offered on the 1952 Baseball Wrappers.

As you can see, the same wrappers also (sometimes) offered team emblems, so those are the same ones presumably, updated for team changes.  But what of these, which I believe also were offered somehow:

By 1953 the pennants had moved to the comics. Buzzy was probably the last comic standing before Bazooka Joe took hold.  Good thing, as he seems like a dolt:

There must be city variants for the early Braves, Browns (Orioles) and A's pennants but these dang things are hard to find! That #121 numbering, which supplanted #112 (and was not the only premium Topps changed the early numbering on) for the pennants would continue into the 1980's. Why the numbering changed, who knows?!

52 Is Not 53

One of the more enduring hobby stories has been that 1952 Baseball high numbers could be found in 1953 Baseball packs, especially in Canada.  I'm pretty sure I know why this is so but have never really made the full connection until now.

As discussed here previously, a normal five cent 1952 pack is predominantly green and red.  Two varieties of this pack were issued.  The first, as this example from Cardboard Connection shows, is horizontally aligned and has two side panel ads.  One touts the new Giant Size cards within, while the other extolls a premium offer for baseball pennants:

Above the pennant offer is a block of information that includes a 1952 copyright date. 

Topps also came out with a very similar wrapper but changed the "Giant Size" ad panel to one advertising baseball emblem premiums by retaining the short line about collecting the Giant Size cards. The webmaster at 1952baseballcards.com thinks these only held first series cards only but I am not so sure it was limited to only that series, for reasons that will be revealed momentarily:

The above wrapper is from a Huggins & Scott auction and you can see the emblem ad atop (the wrapper is not fully shown).  These are much harder to find than the other variety which would support the first series only theory but when the high numbers came out, Topps used the  above variety, replacing green with blue, so they may have been used here and there as needed (or found in the warehouse):

So the "emblem" wrapper was either trotted out again or the continuity is all screwed up, which is always a possibility with Topps. That blue block of color also appears jury rigged-look at how it does not seamlessly transition to the red portion of the wrapper.

Compare the high number '52 wrapper with the regular 1953 wrappers and you can see why confusion exists.  Here is the earlier 1953 wrapper, with clear dating:

Once again using a scan from Cardboard Connection, you can see the orientation has changed to vertical and the baseball design element has been rotated a little.  This version clearly identifies 1953 on a side panel and moves the copyright from upper right corner in the ingredient panel to lower left (and it's in a red font to boot).  The Bazooka ad though, is so prominent the other differences are almost moot, although the '52 uses a darker blue.

The undated version of the wrapper keeps the main design elements, as this eBay scan shows, but loses the "1953":

Interestingly the 1953 dating on the right side panel is gone, to match the removal of the date on the front.  I think Topps did this as the years wore on to allow sales to continue after the season ended.  It sometimes took many months for each series to be fully distributed across the U.S. back then.

Now any theory concerning Topps is subject to something coming out of left field to dispute it but I think the similarity of the 1953 wrappers with the 1952 high number packaging is one reason veteran hobbyists think the '52 highs came in '53 wrappers. There are also reports of 1st series '53 packs having 52 high's mixed in with them out there so there may be something to that as well.

1952 Topps High Numbers-All Wrapped Up

In my last post I showed a rare bird that is described as a 1952 high number blue and red wrapper. I'll show it again:



The above scan is from 1952toppsbaseballcard.com, a pretty cool site. They describe it as coming out late in the print run, likely just for the high numbers. Compare it to the normal wrapper, which is all Christmasy:



The site also notes the 5 inch felt emblem ad shown on the high number wrapper also appeared on the first series (#1-80) nickel wrapper as well, in the top white rectangle (which would fold over to become the back of the pack when sold). Just click the link above and you will see an example of this, along with some other '52 eye candy. You can find the green and red versions pretty easily; not so with the blue bird.

Inside the nickel pack, Topps used an inner gum wrapper:



I don't know if that was in all the '52 packs or if they ever tried such a thing in 1953 and beyond.

Topps held back a number of major stars until the bitter end in '52 but they definitely had a New York tilt to the ads when advertising the high numbers:



Topps had a major bus and subway advertising program to kick of the 1952 baseball cards but until Friend o'the Archive John Moran sent that along, I never realized they had overtly advertised the high numbers. That is a killer piece, I love the Jackie Robinson ad! No way to tell what the top color on the pack was to have been but it sure looks darker than green, even with the muted tones of the ad.

1952 Topps is one of those iconic sets I find endlessly fascinating, like T206. I hope to get more details on the high number wrapper this weekend at the National and will post any new findings when I get back.

Pennant Feverish-Part 2

If I may put the cart before the horse, it is time to look at the antecedents of the 1959 Baseball Pennant premiums. Believe it or not, the first year Topps offered a pennant premium was in 1949 and it was college football teams, not professional baseball squads:



Those inserts would come with the early Bazooka penny pieces before comics really caught on. I do not have any scans of these yet but suspect some will show up someday. By the way, all of the Bazooka comic scans today are from Jeff Shepherd's bag of tricks, as are the date identifications ff same. I suspect some form of the football pennant inserts existed for years afterward.

In 1952 Topps made a baseball pennant premium part of the wrapper design for both the first 310 cards:



And the High Numbers:




Betcha did't know they had their own wrapper, eh? Well, I didn't either until I stumbled upon that scan. As a side note to a side note, it is believed by yours truly that the '52 high numbers were only issued in nickel packs. I'll get to the top premium offer in a minute but the bottom one shows the baseball pennants offer:



The pennants seem to follow the design of the earlier College Football version, with just lettering and no logos. That Chicago and New York teaming would live on for many more years, as we shall see.

We are ranging a bit far afield here but the logos however, were also available via the premium offer at the top of the wrapper for five inch felt emblems and predate by four years the accepted 1956 issue date covered here. Not sure if they match the 1956's identically but check it out:



1953 came and there were no pennant premiums (or emblems) offered on the baseball wrappers, so it was back to the bubble gum set:



Buzzy was about the last character to appear on the comics before Bazooka Joe & His Gang became ubiquitous. The pennants are still nondescript, from the looks of things but Chicago and New York continue to be displayed (the Giants and not the Yankees this time out).

However, in 1954 the stars aligned and we not only get a nascent Bazooka Joe but also a merger between the emblems and pennants of yore:



I have not tracked the emblems as closely as the pennants and am not sure if they were still offered as premiums or if they were not reintroduced until 1956. Anyway.....

1957 brought a redesigned comic (matching somewhat the scroll work on the retailer certificates of the time) but the same old Chicago/NY axis:



1959 was a three-fer as Bazooka had the pennants on the comics:



And Topps had 'em on the baseball wrappers:



And in the packs:



Tying back to Part 1, in 1968 they were also advertised as a premium on the comics:



Yes, same old New York and Chicago tandem! It was still going strong in 1971:



But by 1979 things were moribund in New York:



Pennant premium offers on the comics extend to at least 1983 and may still be offered today for all I know. Along with the felt emblems and a few other items, it is safe to say there is a gap in the information on these premiums. This is partly due to their confusing and longstanding issuance and partly due to Bazooka being considered as lesser when compared to the Topps brand, even though they are all one and the same!