Bowman advertised in 1951 Sporting News

The other day I showed you a couple of Mickey Mantle artworks that had appeared in 1951 issues of The Sporting News.


This time I'd like to share some images of ads that Bowman gum ran in TSN. In perusing microfilm of the 1951 issues of the sporting weekly, I found the first ad in the April 18 issue. 


The ad featured a picture of Giants pitcher Sal Maglie in the same pose that was carried on his card, #127 in the 1951 Bowman set.


This first ad loosely used the term "Action Color Photos" to describe the cards. In actuality, the cards featured color paintings based on photos.


This initial ad also over-promised the scope of the set, indicating 340 cards. Probably because Topps had begun to sign players for its 1951 Red/Blue Back sets, the actual number of '51B cards issued was 324.

The next ad in the series appeared a month later, in the May 16 issue. It featured "Puddin' Head" Jones. The picture in the ad was quite different from the portrait image of Jones that actually appeared on card #112. The ad still touted 340 cards.


The final ad for Bowman cards was late in the season, in the Aug. 22 issue. It promoted the "New Star Series," and now stated "Over 300" cards. Again, the ad showed an action pose of the Yankees pitcher, while the actual card, #25, was a portrait.

I found it interesting that my review of 1951-53 issues of TSN contained ads for Bowman and Red Man cards, but Topps never sprang for the dough to promote its cards to the readers.