Bang For Buck

I probably should have shown this in my post on the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set but to tell the truth, I forgot it was on my hard drive!  I am organizing all my scans these days during the final preparation of what I am calling The Modern Guide to Topps Chewing Gum: 1938-1956, which is nearing completion, so there will bursts of these hidden gems posted here. While final distribution details of this tome are still a couple months off, it will be available, for free, via download.

In the meantime, take a gander at this letter Fleer sent to hobby legend Buck Barker, detailing why #68 in their Ted Williams set was not to be found in the packs:

It's a little hazy but you can see that Buck was to receive multiple #68's!  That's why they're called the Fabulous Fifties folks! Here is a transcript of the letter, which was dated August 27, 1959.

"Dear Mr. Barker:

Due to the possibility of legal overtones, card #68 of the Ted Williams series was not put on the market for sale.  However, it was made and we have been able to send several to people such as you who have inquired.

As we are new in the card business we certainly do not want to have any ill feelings among card collectors.  Therefore I am forwarding you a number of our card #68.

As stated in your letter we request that no charge is made for any of these cards.

Fleer definitely intends to stay in the gum card business and will produce more baseball cards when the opportunity arises.

Cordially,
Art Wolfe
Assistant Promotion Manager"

Splendidly Selling Splinter

I'm not positive but 1959 may have been Topps' all time best year for sales of baseball cards, when adjusted for cards sold per million population.  There are no real sales figures available but there were massive amounts of cardboard and gum being sold by them at this point. Their competitors in the confectionery field were also experiencing rapid growth as the US population swelled in the midst of the baby boom. Our continuing look at these competitors brings us to Fleer Gum.

After vanquishing Bowman, Topps had the national baseball card market all to themselves from 1956-58 but in 1959, Fleer, another Philadelphia confectioner that had been in business since 1885, entered the trading card fray for real (they had previously issued a set in 1923!) with an 80 card set depicting the life of Ted Williams.  Card #68 from the set, as most of us know, was pulled at some point as it also showed Bucky Harris (and Joe Cronin, as I originally typed-thanks Anonymous!), who apparently had not signed a  contract with Fleer:

The cards were sold in this fabulous looking wrapper:

What intrigues me about this set, which was massively over-produced (including the "rare" #68), is an alternate pack that was sold with two extra cards and no gum:

I don't know if the gumless version was a test but whereas the wrapper with gum is quite common, the 8 card version is exceedingly rare.  I want to keep digging into this and will report back any findings.