Dodger fans who opened their morning newspaper in southern California on April 30, 1959 probably read about Johnny Podres of the Phillies beating his old team. The Dodgers were in the midst of a grueling 17-game early season road trip across the country as their second season in Los Angeles unfolded. 
In another part of the paper, fans learned of a new promotion that put some sharp-looking baseball cards inside packages of Morrell Meat products.
The company had opened what would become a long-standing partnership to supply food to the L.A. Coliseum concession stands and the cards were an extension of a pairing that was a natural between hot dog makers and baseball teams nationwide.
There were 12 cards in the first Morrell Meats Dodgers set, all borderless images taken inside the stadium and produced using “Mirro-Krome” technology by H.S. Crocker Co., Inc., according to text on the backs of the cards. Using full-bleed images taken inside the cavernous L.A. Coliseum, the promotion would continue in 1960 and ’61. While the sets are small, they’re among the nicest looking regional card sets ever made.
Morrell would place the cards (or “pictures” as they were referred to) inside packages of Morrell Pride Wieners, Smokees, Cheesefurters and Polish Sausage.
Word spread, as it usually did back then, through the newspaper. The last couple of days of April 1959 saw numerous grocery store ads in southern California papers that mentioned the promotion.
1959 Morrell Meats Dodgers
The inaugural set of Morrell Dodgers is by far the rarest of the three issues. It’s hard to fathom how a 12-card set could include two glaring errors, but this one did. Clem Labine (#6) actually pictures Stan Williams while Norm Larker (#7) is actually Joe Pignato. Neither was corrected.
The cards measured 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ and were unnumbered. the backs contain a Morrell logo, the player’s name, birth date and birth place.
Obviously the manner of distribution wreaked havoc on condition. Today, PSA has graded a total of 215 with only 11 cards rating above a 6.
The checklist includes Sandy Koufax, whose 1959 card is the most valuable of any of the 30 different cards issued from 1959-61. An SGC 5.5 Koufax–the best known example–sold for over $5,000 in 2018. Even lower grade examples from the ’59 set sell for at least a few hundred dollars on the rare occasions when offered.
1959 Morrell Dodgers Checklist
1 Don Drysdale
2 Carl Furillo
3 Jim Gilliam
4 Gil Hodges
5 Sandy Koufax
6 Clem Labine
7 Norm Larker
8 Charlie Neal
9 Johnny Podres
10 Johnny Roseboro
11 Duke Snider
12 Don Zimmer
1960 Morrell Meats Dodgers
Morrell returned with a fresh card set in 1960. This time they did add some stats to the back and five new players made up the 12-card checklist. There were no errors this time but Hodges, Furillo and Snider have been known to be harder to locate than the others for some reason.
The population of 1960 Morrell cards is greater than either of the other two sets with 684 graded by PSA alone. Of those, over 200 have been rated 7 or better, indicating that at some point, there may have been a find of cards that never reached the product.
Koufax’s card is a beautiful image of him standing in front of the easily recognized backdrop of the Coliseum. It remains the most valuable card in the set but even high-end examples do come up for auction and are usually available for under $1,600. If you’d like to own just one Morrell set, the 1960 is your easiest route.
1960 Morrell Dodgers Checklist
1 Walter Alston
2 Roger Craig
3 Don Drysdale
4 Carl Furillo
5 Gil Hodges
6 Sandy Koufax
7 Wally Moon
8 Charlie Neal
9 Johnny Podres
10 Johnny Roseboro
11 Larry Sherry
12 Duke Snider
1961 Morrell Meats Dodgers
The promotion was winding to a close by the third season and Morrell cut the set size to a slightly smaller 2 1/4″ x 3 1/4″ while the checklist was down to just six cards. Again, Koufax and Drysdale were included but Maury Wills made an appearance too. It’s one of very few Wills baseball cards produced during his career because of his lack of a Topps contract. Somewhat remarkably, a mid-grade Wills card sold at auction last year for only $39.60.
Just as in 1961, there are stats on the back, which can help differentiate between some of the very similar cards that were issued the previous two years.
PSA has graded 378 of these with over 100 rating 7 or better.
1961 Morrell Dodgers Checklist
1 Tommy Davis
2 Don Drysdale
3 Frank Howard
4 Sandy Koufax
5 Norm Larker
6 Maury Wills
You can usually find several dozen 1959-1961 Morrell Meats Dodgers cards on eBay. Click here to see them.
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