• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Write for Sports Collectors Daily
    • Write About Your Sports Collection
    • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Hot on eBay
    • Most Watched Graded Rookies
    • Most Watched PSA 10 Cards
    • Most Watched BGS, BVG Cards
    • Most Watched SGC Cards
    • Most Watched CSG,CGC Cards
    • Most Watched Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2023 Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2022 Baseball Rookie Cards
      • Bowman Chrome Cards
      • Ronald Acuna Jr. Cards
      • Shohei Ohtani Cards
      • Mike Trout Cards
      • Fernando Tatis Jr. Cards
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Hank Aaron Cards
      • Jackie Robinson Cards:
      • Mickey Mantle Cards
      • Willie Mays Cards
      • Vintage Baseball Card Sets
      • T206 Cards
    • Most Watched Basketball
      • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2022-23 NBA Rookie Cards
      • Victor Wembanyama Cards
      • Michael Jordan Cards
      • Kobe Bryant Cards
      • LeBron James Rookie Cards
      • Nikola Jokic Rookie Cards
      • Giannis Antetokounmpo Cards
      • Luka Doncic Rookie Cards
      • Prizm Basketball Cards
      • Panini National Treasures
    • Most Watched Football Cards
      • Most Watched NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2023 NFL Rookie Cards
        • CJ Stroud Cards
      • 2022 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Brock Purdy Rookie Cards
      • 2021 NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2020 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Joe Burrow Rookie Cards
        • Justin Herbert Rookie Cards
        • Jalen Hurts Rookie Cards
      • Josh Allen Rookie Cards
      • Patrick Mahomes Rookie Cards
      • Tom Brady Cards
    • Most Watched Hockey Cards
      • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2021-22 NHL Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2020-21 Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2019-20 Rookie Cards
      • Connor McDavid Cards
      • Wayne Gretzky Cards
      • Bobby Orr Cards
    • Most Watched Soccer Cards
    • Most Watched UFC Cards
    • Most Watched Golf Cards
    • Most Watched 1 of 1 Cards
    • Most Watched Topps SuperFractors
    • Most Watched Racing Cards
    • Top Sports Card Dealers on eBay
    • Most Watched Memorabilia
      • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
      • Vintage Sports Tickets, Stubs
      • Most Watched Autographs
  • Ending Soon on Ebay
    • Baseball Cards
    • Basketball Cards
    • Football Cards
    • Hockey Cards
    • Soccer Cards
    • Golf Cards
    • UFC Cards
  • Top - Ad

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.com.

  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
      • Shop Talk
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Affordable Vintage Cards, Collectibles
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • Around The Hobby
    • Editor’s Blog
    • David Cycleback’s Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Popular Stories
  • Sell Your Cards
You are here: Home / Sports Card News / Vintage Sports Card News / Old Baseball Card Sets / 1948 Bowman Baseball Set a Realistic Target for Collectors

1948 Bowman Baseball Set a Realistic Target for Collectors

November 10, 2022 By Rich Mueller

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

1948 Bowman Red SchoendienstWhen 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, Bowman had 106 players under contract, so it’s not known why the set included only half of them.

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.

Stan Musial rookie card 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. Bob Feller 1948 BowmanAnd 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

Unopened 1948 Bowman baseball packs

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

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Facebook Messenger

Related Stories:

The Bond Bread Series (Part I of III): Jackie Robinson Rookie Card Headlines 1947 Set Athletes Headline the 1945 Leister Autographs Game Set The Wayback Collector: Is It Bowman or Play Ball? 1940 Michigan Sportservice Detroit Tigers Photos Ushered in Championship Season A Look at the Evolution of Early Bowman Baseball Cards A Look Inside the U-Card Designation 1948 Sport Thrills Set Scarce, But Packed With Stars Vintage Set Break of the Week: 1941 Play Ball

About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for over 40 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected].

Filed Under: Old Baseball Card Sets, Vintage Sports Card News Tagged With: 1940s baseball cards, 1948 Bowman, bowman baseball cards

Primary Sidebar

Our articles may contain affiliate links. When you click on links to merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. 

Shop Sports Cards on Ebay
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Hockey

High End Cards and Memorabilia

  • BBCE Authenticated Boxes, Packs opens in a new window
  • Graded pre-War Card eBay Auctions
  • PWCC Premier Auction
  • PWCC Fixed Price Marketplace
  • Graded Rookie Cards on eBay opens in a new window
  • Authenticated Photos on eBay opens in a new window
  • Graded Tickets & Stubs opens in a new window

Bargain Corner

  • Michael Jordan cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Kobe Bryant cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Mickey Mantle Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Graded T206 Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Pre-War Cards Under $100 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Baseball Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Football Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Basketball Cards $25 and less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Hockey Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Complete Sets $20 and Less opens in a new window
  • Baseball Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Football Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Hobby Boxes Under $30 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1986 Rookie Cards Under $1 opens in a new window
  • Buy Boxes Directly from Topps opens in a new window

RSS Auction Report

  • Heritage Auctions December Sports Showcase Auction Ends Dec. 23, 2023
  • JG.Limited History & Culture Auction Ends December 12, 2023
  • Pristine Auction December 2023 Daily, Weekly and Featured Auctions

Footer

Categories

  • Around the Hobby
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • David Cycleback's Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Editor's Blog
  • Featured Articles
  • Hobby Shop Talk
  • National Sports Collectors Convention
  • Popular Stories
  • Rich Klein's Ramblings
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Uncategorized

Sponsor Links

  • Sports Card Forumopens in a new window
  • Buying Vintage Sports Cardsopens in a new window
  • Championship Rings For Saleopens in a new window
  • Autographed Baseballsopens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Baseball Cardsopens in a new window
  • Sports Collectors Storeopens in a new window

Pages

Ending on eBay Soon
  • Baseball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Basketball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Football Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Hockey Card Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay Ending Soon
Top 100 on Ebay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Baseball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Card Auctions
  • Top Authenticated Vintage Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
Most Watched on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Graded Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Tom Brady Card Auctions on eBay
  • 50 Hottest Hobby Boxes at Auction on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Golf Trading Cards on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Wrestling Trading Cards on eBay
  • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
  • Most Popular Bobbleheads on eBay
  • Most Watched 1/1 Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Basketball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Complete Baseball Card Sets at Auction on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Rookie Card Auctions
  • Most Watched Goudey Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Hockey Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Racing Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Soccer Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Autographs on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Jerseys on eBay
  • Most Watched Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
  • Most Watched Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay
  • Hottest Panini National Treasures Cards on eBay
  • Hottest PSA 10 Cards for Sale on eBay
  • What’s Hot on eBay
Sports Memorabilia
  • Sports Card Bargain Bin
  • Sports Memorabilia Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
About Sports Collectors Daily
  • Advertise with SC Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
Sell Your Cards
  • What’s It Worth
  • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?

Copyright © 2023 SportsCollectorsDaily.com | Web Design by Wickam Groupopens in a new window