1962 JELL-O Baseball Card Set Has Plenty of Quirks

In the fall of 1961, General Foods embarked on the planning and production of a baseball and football trading card promotion unprecedented in the food industry. Beginning with an advertising roll-out campaign in March of 1962, the United States and Canadian Post cereal product lines depicted packages featuring major league baseball and football players.

The 200 baseball players appearing in both the U.S. and Canadian Post cereal issues are the same, with the neighbors to the north being treated to modified text accommodating English and French language narrative and statistic titles. The 200 football players appearing in each country are completely different, representing the U.S. National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL), respectively.

Advanced collectors pursuing the 1962 Post cereal baseball and football trading cards have long benefited from having access to comprehensive player-to-product (PTP) lists. The PTP lists are invaluable tools in assessing scarcities and variations, and form the foundation of the four books I have written pertaining to the 1961-63 U.S. and 1962 Canadian baseball card promotions. The PTP lists for the 1962 NFL and CFL sets have also been shared through collector networks, and periodically appeared in hobby publications.

The foregoing serves as a preface to the focus of this article on the 1962 JELL-O baseball card promotion. A number of years ago, sports collecting hobbyists were fortunate to receive the 1963 JELL-O baseball card PTP list as part of an excellent article written by Stewart Jones. Predictably, people contacting me about my Post cereal baseball card monographs, ask if I have written similar books on the 1962 and 1963 JELL-O baseball card sets. The simple response has been no, while referencing the Jones article entitled “JELL-O”: A Shaky Investment” as the only known informed analysis of 1963 JELL-O card distribution and scarcity.

Which brings us to the 1962 JELL-O baseball card promotion. Unlike the U.S. 1961-63 baseball sets, I have never been able to locate source material or contact a person who actually worked on the JELL-O promotions. It certainly hasn’t been for a lack of trying. Over the past 30 years, I have sent questionnaires, letters, e-mails, and initiated phone calls to advertising agencies, corporate headquarters, museums, and collector clubs — without success. As collectors may surmise, the nature of responses have run the gamut from incredulous laughter to total silence.

The Philip Morris-Kraft consumer relations and patent/copyright attorneys were amazed to think anyone in their right mind would believe archives on the promotions would exist, but were kind enough to thank me for my interest and grant written permission to display card representations without copyright constraints. The JELL-O museum curator in Leroy, New York and major U.S.-based JELL-O Collector’s Club provided a sympathetic ear but did not have source material or contacts directly related to the baseball card campaigns. I never received a response from the long-time advertising agency, Young & Rubicam, and any residual materials from the campaigns that may have resided in White Plains, New York or the Leroy plant (which, along with 3 other locations were closed in 1964) have long been lost. The leads pursued through my Post Cereal Art Department and printer contacts in Battle Creek, Michigan were to no avail, as those kind gentlemen had no recollection of ever sharing copy art with either their Canadian counterparts or JELL-O colleagues.

So, you may be thinking, “Why am I wasting my time reading this article?” The short answer is that this article provides information on the 1962 JELL-O baseball card set seldom distributed or never publicly released. If you are intrigued, read on.

The following information has been compiled based on archived material appearing in vintage sports collector publications, personal observations, private collections, and posted internet images. The purpose of the listing is to share data with advanced JELL-O collectors and solicit confirmed additions from hobbyists. The ultimate objective is to assemble a complete 1962 JELL-O player-to product (PTP) list, which will enable structured analysis of relative card scarcity and shed light on the General Foods marketing plan. Comments related to this list may be referred to Ken Marks at [email protected] or Dan Mabey at [email protected]. This compilation of confirmed 1962 JELL-O Gelatin and Pudding boxes housing baseball trading cards will be updated as new information is received. PTP updates will be distributed to hobbyists contributing to this project.

Known PTP allocations are:

1 Skowron Blackberry, Raspberry

3 C. Boyer Chocolate Pudding

5 Mantle Apple

6 Maris Apple, Blackberry, Chocolate Pudding, Coconut Cream

7 Berra Blackberry, Strawberry, Vanilla Pudding

10 Terry Lime

11 Blanchard Blackberry, Lime

12 Arroyo Blackberry

14 Cash Blackberry, Butterscotch

17 Fernandez Raspberry

19 Aspromonte Strawberry

20 Kaline Strawberry

22 Lary Orange Pineapple, Vanilla Pudding

23 Mossi Lime

24 Regan Lime

26 Bunning Black Raspberry

27 Gentile Blackberry, Coconut Cream, Lemon Pudding

28 Breeding Raspberry

30 Hansen Chocolate Pudding

32 Williams Strawberry

33 Triandos Raspberry

34 Pappas Chocolate Pudding

36 Estrada Lime

37 Power Raspberry, Lemon Gelatin

38 Temple Raspberry

40 Francona Blackberry, Chocolate Pudding

42 Romano Black Cherry, Orange-Pineapple

43 Perry Strawberry

44 Held Vanilla Pudding

45 Essegian Lemon Pudding

46 Sievers Raspberry

47 Fox Blackberry

49 Aparicio Orange Pineapple

50 Landis Black Raspberry

51 Minoso Blackberry, Vanilla Pudding

52 Carey Strawberry

53 Lollar Lemon Pudding

54 Pierce Blackberry

55 Wynn Lime

57 Runnels Vanilla Pudding

61 Yastrzemski Strawberry

62 Jensen Apple

65 Long Raspberry

66 Cottier Raspberry

73 Donovan Lemon Pudding

74 Bilko Raspberry

75 Bridges Raspberry

76 Yost Raspberry

77 Wagner Strawberry

81 Duren Lemon Gelatin

83 Allison Butterscotch, Raspberry

84 Martin Raspberry

85 Killebrew Raspberry, Lemon Pudding

86 Versalles Strawberry

87 Green, L. Strawberry

91 Pascual Black Cherry, Strawberry

93 Lumpe Raspberry

99 Sullivan Lemon [Gelatin or Pudding?]

100 Ditmar Lemon [Gelatin or Pudding?]

101 Hodges Raspberry

102 Neal Raspberry

103 Spencer Raspberry

105 Davis, T. Strawberry

109 Koufax Lemon [Gelatin or Pudding?]

110 Drysdale Lime

111 Sherry Lime

114 Snider Apple

119 Kasko Strawberry

120 Bell Strawberry

121 Pinson Blackberry

122 Robinson, F. Blackberry, Lemon Pudding

124 Jay Black Cherry

125 Brosnan Lime

126 O’Toole Blackberry, Coconut Cream

129 K. Hunt Orange (Large), Vanilla Pudding

135 Kuenn Strawberry

136 Cepeda Lemon Pudding

139 McCormick Lemon Gelatin

140 Marichal Lime

141 Sanford Lime

142 Mays Black Cherry

143 Miller Blackberry

145 Adcock Black Cherry

148 McMillan Strawberry

149 Aaron Black Cherry, Coconut Cream

154 Buhl Lime, Vanilla Pudding

156 Maye Black Raspberry

157 Spangler Black Raspberry

161 Warwick Strawberry

162 Sawatski Strawberry

168 Grammas Black Raspberry

170 Mazeroski Blackberry, Lemon Gelatin

172 Groat Blackberry, Orange Pineapple

173 Clemente Strawberry

174 Skinner Orange

177 Face Lime

178 Friend Black Cherry

180 Haddix Black Raspberry

184 Santo Orange-Pineapple

185 Rodgers Strawberry

186 Ashburn Chocolate Pudding

188 Banks Orange Pineapple, Vanilla Pudding

189 Taylor, S. Lime

190 Elston Lemon Pudding, Lime

193 Taylor, T. Lemon Pudding

196 Smith, B.G. Strawberry

200 Buzhardt Lime

For collectors familiar with my monographs on the Post cereal baseball trading card promotions, you will note that it would be futile to begin any 1962 JELL-O scarcity analysis at this point. As a departure point, there is no available account of the flavors or package sizes selected for the test promotion. To demonstrate the significance of this absence of data, one only need to glance at “The Joys of JELL-O” recipe book published in 1962 by General Foods.

A page in the book listing JELL-O flavors available in preparing light dessert creations actually excludes some varieties (which actually house baseball cards), and totally ignores all pudding and pie filling packages. The book acknowledges strawberry, raspberry, lemon, lime, black cherry, and orange-pineapple; all of which are known to have participated in the 1962 promotion. The list also includes cherry, orange, black raspberry, mixed fruit, strawberry banana, tropical fruit, and orange-banana. Finally, the book advertisement also introduces “for the first time” flavors of celery, mixed vegetable, seasoned tomato, and Italian salad. However, the cited page does not mention apple or blackberry flavors, which we definitively know housed cards of Mantle and Fox (among others), respectively.

It is also confirmed that 1962 JELL-O pudding flavors of chocolate, coconut cream, lemon, and vanilla participated in the promotion, but there may be others. Accordingly, advanced JELL-O collectors are implored to submit only verified PTP additions to the list, and not resort to deductive reasoning or speculation based on color/tint inflections.

In the interest of sharing information that may expand knowledge or enhance enjoyment of the 1962 JELL-O baseball card set, the following paragraphs are offered for the reader’s consideration. I wrote the article below in November 1995, but considered it a “fluff” piece that did not warrant distribution. The original narrative and graphics are unaltered, and simply offered for the JELL-O collector’s amusement.

I look forward to receiving collector input on this project, as we strive to better understand the General Foods marketing strategy and idiosyncrasies of one of the most enigmatic food issues produced. Please feel free to drop me a line at e-mail: [email protected]. Until then, happy collecting!