1955 Bowman Sets Baseball Cards
Few collectors are neutral when it comes to the 1955 Bowman set of baseball cards. They either love or hate the unusual design of the cards. The 1955 Bowman baseball cards give the illusion of players appearing on a color television set. Color photographs of players framed by a brown wood grain television were an obvious reference to watching baseball on a color television. In case the wood grain graphics didn't get the point across, there was a small icon at the bottom of the 1955 Bowman cards that said 'Color TV'. This obvious reference to watching baseball on a color television set came at a time when hardly anyone had a color TV in their home.
The wood grain graphics on the 1955 Bowman cards appeared as either a light brown or a dark brown color. Even collectors who love the unusual style of the 1955 Bowman cards aren't thrilled about one of the design`s side effects. The dark brown border on the cards are so unforgiving to nicks that finding a 1955 Bowman baseball card in near mint condition is nearly impossible.
Other design changes to the 1955 Bowman baseball cards were far less conspicuous. A small white box containing the player`s last name was placed on top of their photograph. The card number was placed inside of a glove instead of a baseball like it had been in the 1955 cards.
For the first time ever, the 1955 card set created by bowman included cards with umpires on them. The 320 card set includes no less than 31 baseball cards devoted to umpires. This was not only a first for Bowman, it was a first for the baseball card industry as a whole.
Like the 1954 Bowman baseball card set there were some printing issues that caused variations to the 1955 Bowman set. Maybe because only their last name was featured on the front of the cards, the card backs of Frank Bolling and Milt Bolling accidentally got switched and Don Johnson and Ernie Johnson had the same problem. Player Harvey Kuenn didn't get his picture switched with anyone, he just got his name spelled wrong on his card. When Bowman became aware of these errors they reissued corrected versions of the cards. For baseball card collectors, who tend to be a stickler for accuracy, they correct versions are more valuable and rarer due to their smaller print run.
The 1955 Bowman card set had a slew of other collectible cards as well. Naturally the most sought after card would be #202, the Mickey Mantle card. Other popular names include Elston Howard, Al Kaline, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks.
1955 marks the last year the Bowman Gum Company issued baseball cards. Their main competitor the Topps Gum Company bought them out in 1955. The Bowman Gum Company may be gone but the influence they had on the design and creation of baseball cards is still being felt today.
1. Hoyt Wilhelm
2. Al Dark
3. Joe Coleman
4. Eddie Waitkus
5. Jim Robertson
6. Pete Suder
7. Gene Baker
8. Warren Hacker
9. Gil McDougald
10. Phil Rizzuto
11. Billy Bruton
12. Andy Pafko
13. Clyde Vollmer
14. Gus Keriazakos
15. Frank Sullivan
16. Jim Piersall
17. Del Ennis
18. Stan Lopata
19. Bobby Avila
20. Al Smith
21. Don Hoak
22. Roy Campanella
23. Al Kaline
24. Al Aber
25. "Minnie" Minoso
26. Virgil Trucks
27. Preston Ward
28. Dick Cole
29. "Red" Schoendienst
30. Bill Sarni
31. Johnny Temple
32. Wally Post
33. Nelson Fox
34. Clint Courtney
35. Bill Tuttle
36. Wayne Belardi
37. "Pee Wee" Reese
38. Early Wynn
39. Bob Darnell
40. Vic Wertz
41. Mel Clark
42. Bob Greenwood
43. Bob Buhl
44. Danny O'Connell
45. Tom Umphlett
46. Mickey Vernon
47. Sammy White
48a. Milt Bolling
48a. Milt Bolling
49. Jim Greengrass
50. Hobie Landrith
51. Elvin Tappe
52. Hal Rice
53. Alex Kellner
54. Don Bollweg
55. Cal Abrams
56. Billy Cox
57. Bob Friend
58. Frank Thomas
59. "Whitey" Ford
60. Enos Slaughter
61. Paul LaPalme
62. Royce lint
63. Irv Noren
64. Curt Simmons
65. Don Zimmer
66. George shuba
67. Don Larsen
68. Elston Howard
69. Bill Hunter
70. Lew Burdette
71. Dave Jolly
72. Chet Nichols
73. Eddie yost
74. Jerry Snyder
75. Brooks Lawrence
76. Tom Poholsky
77. Jim McDonald
78. Gil Coan
79. Willie Miranda
80. Lou Limmer
81. Bob Morgan
82. Lee Walls
83. Max Surkont
84. George Freese
85. Cass Michaels
86. Ted Gray
87. Randy Jackson
88. Steve Bilko
89. Lou Boudreau
90. Art Ditmar
91. Dick Marlow
92. George Zuverink
93. Andy Seminick
94. Hank Thompson
95. Sal Maglie
96. Ray Narleski
97. John Podres
98. "Junior" Gilliam
99. Jerry Coleman
100. Tom Morgan
101a. Don Johnson
101b. Don Johnson
102. Bobby Thompson
103. Eddie Mathews
104. Bob Porterfield
105. Johnny Schmitz
106. Del Rice
107. Solly Hemus
108. Lou Kretlow
109. Vern Stevens
110. Bob Miller
111. Steve Ridzik
112. Gran Hamner
113. Bob Hall
114. Vic Janowicz
115. Roger Bowman
116. Sandalio Consuegra
117. Johhny Groth
118. Bobby Adams
119. Joe Asroth
120. Ed Burtschy
121. Rufus Crawford
122. Al Corwin
123. Marv Grissom
124. Johnny Antonelli
125. Paul Giel
126. Billy Goodman
127. Hank Majeski
128. Mike Garcia
129. Hal Naragon
130. Richie Ashburn
131. Willard Marshall
132a. Harvey Kueen
132b. Harvey Kuenn
133. Charles King
134. Bob Feller
135. Lloyd Merriman
136. Rocky Bridges
137. Bob Talbot
138. Davey Williams
139. Sid Hudson
140. Bobby Shantz
141. Wes Westrum
142. Rudy Regalado
143. Don Newcombe
144. Art Houtteman
145. Bob Nieman
146. Don Liddle
147. Sam Mele
148. Bob Chakales
149. Cloyd Boyer
150. Bill Klaus
151. Jim Brideweser
152. Johnny Klippstein
153. Eddie Robinson
154. Frank Lary
155. Gerry Staley
156. Jim Hughes
157a. Ernie Johnson
157b. Ernie Johnson
158. Gil Hoges
159. Harry Byrd
160. Bill Skowron
161. Matt Batts
162. Charlie Maxwell
163. Sid Gordon
164. Toby Atwell
165. Maurice McDermott
166. Jim Busby
167. Bob Grim
168. "Yogi" Berra
169. Carl Furillo
170. Carl Erskine
171. Robin Roberts
172. Willie Jones
173. "Chico" Carrasquel
174. Sherman Lollar
175. Wilmer Shantz
176. Joe DeMaestri
177. Willard Nixon
178. Tom Brewer
179. Hank Aaron
180. Johnny Logan
181. Eddie Miksis
182. Bob Rush
183. Ray Katt
184. Willie Mays
185. Vic Raschi
186. Alex Grammas
187. Fred Hatfield
188. Ned Garver
189. Jack Collum
190. Fred Baczewski
191. Bob Lemon
192. George Strickland
193. Howie Judson
194. Joe Nuxhall
195a. Erv Palica
195b. Erv Palica
196. Russ Meyer
197. Ralph Kiner
198. Dave Pope
199. Vernon Law
200. Dick Littlefield
201. Allie Reynolds
202. Mickey Mantle
203. Steve Gromek
204a. Frank Bolling
204b. Frank Bolling
205. "Rip" Repulski
206. Ralph Beard
207. Frank Shea
208. Eddy Fitzgerald
209. "Smoky" Burgess
210. Earl Torgeson
211. "Sonny" Dixon
212. Jack Dittmer
213. George Kell
214. Billy Pierce
215. Bob Kuzava
216. Preacher Roe
217. Del Crandall
218. Joe Adcock
219. Whitey Lockman
220. Jim Hearn
221. "Skinny" Brown
222. Russ Kemmerer
223. Hal Jeffcoat
224. Dee Fondy
225. Paul Richards
226. W.F. McKinley
227. Frank Baumholtz
228. John Phillips
229. Jim Brosnan
230. Al Brazile
231. Jim Konstanty
232. Birdie Tebbetts
233. Bill Serena
234. Dick Bartell
235. J.A. Paparella
236. Murray Dickson
237. Johnny Wyrostek
238. Eddie Stanky
239. Edwin Rommell
240. Billy Roes
241. John Pesky
242. Ernie Banks
243. Gus Bell
244. Duane Pillette
245. Bill Miller
246. Hank Bauer
247. Dutch Leonard
248. Harry Dorish
249. Billy Gardner
250. Larry Knapp
251. Stan Jok
252. Roy Smalley
253. Jim Wilson
254. Bennett Flowers
255. Pete Runnells
256. Owen Friend
257. Tom Alston
258. John Stevens
259. Don Mossi
260. Edwin Hurley
261. Walt Moryn
262. Jim Lemon
263. Eddie Joost
264. Bill Henry
265. Al Barlick
266. Mike Fornieles
267. Jim Honochick
268. Roy Lee Hawes
269. Joe Amalfitano
270. Chico Fernandez
271. Bob Hooper
272. John Flaherty
273. "Bubba" Church
274. Jim Delsing
275. Bill Grieve
276. Ivan Delock
277. Ed Runge
278. Charles Neal
279. Hank soar
280. Clyde McCullough
281. Charles Berry
282. Phil Cavaretta
283. Nestor Chylak
284. Bill Jackowski
285. Walt Dropo
286. Frank Secory
287. Ron Mrozinski
288. Dick Smith
289. Arthur Gore
290. Hershell Freeman
291. Frank Dascoli
292. Marv Blaylock
293. Thomas Gorman
294. Wally Moses
295. Lee Ballanfant
296. Bill Virdon
297. "Dusty" Boggess
298. Charlie Grimm
299. Lonnie Warneke
300. Tommy Byrne
301. William Engeln
302. Frank Malzone
303. Jocko Conlan
304. Harry Chiti
305. Frank Umont
306. Bob Cerv
307. "Babe" Pinelli
308. Al Lopez
309. Hal Dixon
310. Ken Lehman
311. Lawrence Goetz
312. Bill Wight
313. A.J. Donatelli
314. Dale Mitchell
315. Cal Hubbard
316. Marion Fricano
317. William R. Summers
318. Billy & Bobby Shantz
319. Albert Schroll
320. George Susce, Jr.
