It won’t win any design awards, but for collectors, the 1948 Bowman baseball set has carved out its own unique place.
Consisting of just 48 cards, with virtually no tremendously scarce or exceedingly valuable parts, the black and white set is attractive for anyone looking for a reasonable challenge that carries a story or two behind it.
Dawn of the Post-War Bubble Gum Card Era
When the spring of 1948 rolled around, it had been almost three years since the end of World War II. Paper shortages had ended production of baseball and other sports cards after Pearl Harbor. By ’48, Bowman Gum saw an opportunity and cranked its presses year-round, producing baseball, basketball and football cards.
The baseball set, of course, came first. Many youngsters born too late to remember Goudey or Play Ball sets, discovered baseball cards for the first time.
A penny pack yielded one of 36 cards that spring, with 12 others added later in the season. Nickel packs held multiple cards and three pieces of gum. Measuring 2 1/16 x 2 1/2, the cards were smaller than Goudey’s colorful 1930s gum card sets.
Half of the cards in the ’48 Bowman set feature New York Yankees or Giants while there are no Red Sox, White Sox, Cubs, Tigers, Senators or Browns cards. It’s uncertain why they weren’t included. According to research in the book The Bubble Gum Card War
Who’s In, Who’s Out
It quickly became apparent to those who bought packs with a fervor that the game’s two biggest stars would not be available. Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams weren’t featured inside Bowman’s first products. Leaf would feature both in their debut sets that were produced shortly thereafter so perhaps it was a contractual issue. Their omissions obviously help keep the price down these days. Still, there were some recognizable faces in Bowman’s debut issue and many would become Hall of Fame rookie cards.
The set does pack a pretty good star-powered punch even without the two icons. Stan Musial’s rookie card is here. So is Yogi Berra’s. And Warren Spahn. And Red Schoendienst. 
And Ralph Kiner and Phil Rizzuto. Where do you find the rookie card of 1951 Giants home run hero Bobby Thomson? ’48 Bowman.
There’s a very attractive Bob Feller card, too. In fact, you’ll find nearly 20% of the set is made up of players who made the Hall of Fame. Yet none of them are outrageously expensive today.
If your only goal is a crease free set with reasonably nice corners and edges, only the Musial rookie card (and perhaps Berra depending on your taste) may require a four-figure outlay.
Not all of the photos are perfect. Spahn gets a side profile shot. Rizzuto’s photo is almost comical, appearing as if something huge is stuffed inside his jersey.
Complete sets of 1948 Bowman Baseball vary in price, but a respectable mid-grade set can usually be found for somewhere in the $3,000-$3,500 neighborhood. A low-grade set recently sold for around $1,000.
Single Prints
The challenges include single prints. Bowman printed 36 cards in its first series, then removed 12 cards from its printing sheet and put 12 new players in. The single prints are worth roughly twice as much as their common counterparts. Rizzuto’s card is the only SP, fortunately. That card, along with the Musial and Berra rookie cards, creates the three toughest targets for collectors.
Cards from the ’48 Bowman set that have proven difficult to find in high grade include Clint Hartung, Marty Marion, Herman Wehmeier and Thomson.
The set really established Bowman as the new king of bubble gum cards–at least until Topps barged in during the early 1950s and the two went to war over pennies and nickels spent by kids. It would be over by 1955, when Bowman printed its last set.
The Box
In 2017 a previously unknown partial box containing 19 of 24 original packs, was consigned to auction by a Tennessee family that had been in the confectionery business for many years. It was one of numerous rare boxes of packs dating back several decades that were eventually sold at auction. The 1948 box and packs sold for $521,180 through Mile High Card Company. The buyer kept one pack for his collection and then turned it back over for sale three years later where the 18 remaining packs and box netted $360,613.
When collected piece by piece, the 1948 Bowman Baseball set is a very attainable goal for a fan of vintage cards looking to move into an issue that’s both historic and affordable.
You can see 1948 Bowman Baseball cards on eBay by clicking here.
1948 Bowman Baseball Checklist
1 Bob Elliott RC
2 Ewell Blackwell RC
3 Ralph Kiner RC
4 Johnny Mize
5 Bob Feller
6 Yogi Berra RC
7 Pete Reiser SP
8 Phil Rizzuto RC SP
9 Walker Cooper
10 Buddy Rosar
11 Johnny Lindell
12 Johnny Sain RC
13 Willard Marshall SP
14 Allie Reynolds RC
15 Eddie Joost
16 Jack Lohrke SP
17 Enos Slaughter
18 Warren Spahn RC
19 Tommy Henrich
20 Buddy Kerr SP
21 Ferris Fain RC
22 Floyd Bevens RC SP
23 Larry Jansen RC
24 Dutch Leonard SP
25 Barney McCosky
26 Frank Shea RC SP
27 Sid Gordon
28 Emil Verban SP
29 Joe Page RC SP
30 Whitey Lockman RC SP
31 Bill McCahan
32 Bill Rigney
33 Bill Johnson
34 Sheldon Jones SP
35 Snuffy Stirnweiss RC
36 Stan Musial RC
37 Clint Hartung RC
38 Red Schoendienst RC
39 Augie Galan
40 Marty Marion RC
41 Rex Barney RC
42 Ray Poat
43 Bruce Edwards
44 Johnny Wyrostek
45 Hank Sauer RC
46 Herman Wehmeier
47 Bobby Thomson RC
48 Dave Koslo RC
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