William Youngerman Inc

Post war baseball cards began to take off in 1945, when the major league ballplayers (including Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, Pee Wee Reese, Warren Spahn, Charley Gehringer, Hank Greenberg and others) who had left for military service began to return to their teams. No new national issues came out during the two years after the war ended, although there were a few regional issues as well as some Post war baseball card sets issued by bread makers (one was a set devoted entirely to Jackie Robinson during his first season).

In 1948, Gum Inc. -- then known as Bowman -- and Leaf produced small national post war baseball cards sets. Neither issue was elaborate; Bowman’s 1948 post war baseball cards set featured black and white pictures, while Leaf’s baseball card set featured crude color pictures on poor quality cardboard. In 1949, Leaf continued their 1948 effort, and Bowman improved on its 1948 design by featuring machine-added color pictures on its post war baseball cards.

In 1950, Leaf folded. That left Bowman alone among national post war baseball card manufacturers, and their 1950 set is a gem. Their post war baseball cards sets from 1950-52 featured bright color paintings, and 1951 saw larger-sized baseball cards. 1951 also saw two new competitors: the Topps Chewing Gum Co. of Brooklyn, New York and Berk Ross. Topps’ first effort at a post war baseball card was not a large one, with two 52-card sets (Red Back and Blue Back), two large-size All-Star baseball card sets, and a set of team baseball cards that pictured only nine of the 16 teams then in existence. In 1952, Berk Ross left the baseball card market, but at the same time the competition between Topps and Bowman became intense.

Post War Baseball Cards at the Library of Congress Site

The Other Trading Cards Are

Bowman Baseball Cards

Topps Baseball Cards - Competition

Tobacco Baseball Cards

Visit Our Florida Location

William Youngerman, Inc. Bank of America Building - 150 East
Palmetto Park Road - Suite 101 -
Boca Raton, FL 33432
(561) 368-7707 or (800 ) 327-5010