1950-1959 Page

Ben Hogan cards 1950 thru 1959 (9 cards in this decade)

1950 No Cards

1951 3 Cards

1951 Berk Ross Inc.
Hit Parade of Champions

#1-16 2 1/16" x 2 1/2"

1951 Berk Ross Inc.
Hit Parade of Champions
Full Panel with Leon Hart

Hart #1-14 Hogan #1-16 Total size 4 1/8" X 2 1/2"

This Ben Hogan card is from the first Berk Ross multi-sport set (72 cards) that was issued in 1951. The second set was issued in 1952 and consisted entirely of baseball players.

The 1951 set was issued in folders that consisted of two cards that were perforated in the middle. These cards sold for 10 cents. To get a single card of a player collectors had to tear the cards apart. Uncut panels are rarer and usally bring a higher price over separated cards.

Card backs give some of the player's personal profile and stats from the 1950 season. At the top of each card are the words "Hit Parade of Champions 1951."

The Ben Hogan card (#1-16) was attached to the card of football player Leon Hart (#1-14).
Because of where the perforation was located, the Hogan card by itself is often found poorly centered.

1951 General Mills

Wheaties Premium Photos

#A8491l 5" x 7"

In 1951, after a 10 year absence in issuing baseball cards, the General Mills Corporation was planning on releasing a set which included baseball players, as well as other popular athletes of the time period. A set of "photographic cards" were test marketed to determine public popularity. These cards were 5" by 7". However, production was stopped after just a few weeks . This was due to General Mills not being able to come to terms with two of the athletes in the test issue, Al Rosen and rookie Mickey Mantle. Therefore, it is not known how many of each athlete's card exists from this issue.

The complete set consists of 9 baseball players, 1 tennis player, 1 figure skater, and 1 golfer (Ben Hogan).

Many of these exact photos were used for the 1952 Wheaties box cards.

1952 2 Cards

1952 General Mills

Wheaties Sports Figures

Portrait #NNO 2" x 2 3/4"

Action #NNO 2" x 2 3/4"

Wheaties cereal was introduced in the mid-1920s and became well known for the slogan: "The Breakfast of Champions." From the mid 1930s to the early 1940s their cereal boxes often displayed sports cards, the majority being baseball cards. After a break of several years, Wheaties cards returned to boxes for a short while, ending their run in 1952.

The 1952 Wheaties set is composed of 30 athletes, each with a portrait and an action card, for a total of 60 cards in this issue. The set contains six golfers: Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Lloyd Mangrum, Alice Bauer, Marlene Bauer, and Patty Berg.

Since individual cards had to be hand cut from the boxes, it is difficult to find really nice examples of certain cards. This also depended upon where the cards were located on the cereal box. Miscuts, creases, and staining are not unusual with these cards.

Complete boxes are hard to find

1953 No Cards

1954 2 Cards

1954 Topps

Scoop
New Golf King July 10, 1953

#129 2 1/16" x 2 15/16"

1954 Topps Scoop with remains of coating

#129 2 1/16" x 2 15/16"

The subjects of the 1954 Topps Scoop trading card set covers over 1000 years of history. This 156 card set was released in two series, each with 78 cards (1 thru 78 and 79 thru 156). 1954 Topps Scoop cards are smaller than traditional trading cards measuring 2 1/16" by 2 15/16".

Card fronts have a painted image of the subject (event) along with a box that carries a headline and date. Card backs look like a page from a newspaper. The top of the card has a newspaper name, date and location. The card number is inside a box on the left side top. Below the title is a headline about the subject (event). There is also a black and white image and a write-up that tells the story. Some cards originally came with a scratch-off area meant to hide the image which are difficult to find.

Early American history and wars figure very prominently in this set. This set also focuses heavily on non-sports subjects, but it does contain several sports stars. Babe Ruth, Notre Dame's legendary Four Horsemen, Jesse Owens, Joe Louis, Bob Feller, and Ben Hogan are among the athletes included in the set.

As with many Topps cards of the 1950's centering is an issue with this series. It is often difficult to find a very nice example of the Ben Hogan card.

Examples of some other cards from the 1954 Topps Scoop Set:

1955 thru 1958 No Cards

1959 2 Cards

1959 Cadet Sweets (England)
Transfers

#23 Size???

This Ben Hogan card is extremely rare. I have only seen a couple of these come up for sale. It is part of a 48 card set where the subject’s image is reversed on the front, so that when it is “transferred” it will appear properly.

There are 3 golf cards in this set: #14 Bobby Locke, #20 Dai Rees, and #23 Ben Hogan. Some of the other sports covered in this set are: tennis, cricket, cycling, boxing, soccer (football), motor racing, rugby, ice hockey, horse racing, and swimming.

Here are the other two golf cards from this set

1959 TPK Hannah (England)

Top Flight Stars

#15 1 5/16" x 2 9/16"

This attractive 1959 set of 25 cards was issued by the British cigarette brand Top Flight Cigarettes. The 3 golf cards in this set are: #3 Peter Thompson, #15 Ben Hogan, and #16 Henry Cotton. This set depicts major stars from several different sports such as: boxing, track and field, swimming, cricket, football (soccer), horse racing, auto racing, and boat racing.

This ends the Ben Hogan cards for the 1950's decade.