1947 Tip Top Bread (D323) Set and Checklist

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Tip Top Bread (D323)
Year	1947
Size	2 1/4″ x 3″
Images	Black and White
Type	Bakery
Number in Set	163

1947 Tip Top Bread Set Overview

Phil Rizzuto 1947 Tip Top Bread The 1947 Tip Top Bread set was one of the first major baseball card releases following World War II. The set included a somewhat staggering 163 cards, making it quite large for the time period.

These cards were black and white with borderless photos of subjects and the player’s name and team at the bottom in a white box. Backs included an advertisement for Tip Top Bread.

The set includes many big names but is also missing quite a few popular stars, including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and Bob Feller. All three, of course, missed time on the diamond to serve in World War II. But with the war ending in 1945, all of them were active players in the 1946 season. Their absences are curious as Topps and Bowman were not yet producing cards so they could not have had exclusivity deals with those mainstream companies.

The set includes several typographical errors with regards to names. Even on cards without errors, some of the players may not be immediately recognized in the checklist. Yogi Berra, for example, is known as Larry Berra. All-Star Whitey Lockman is known as Carroll Lockman and other similar examples are found as well.

Berra’s card, as is the card of fellow Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, is quite desirable. Both are seen as rookie cards for the players. Those cards, along with a card of the legendary Honus Wagner (who was a Pirates coach at the time) are generally the most valuable cards in the set.

This was not the first Tip Top Bread set, of course. The 1910 D322 Pittsburgh Pirates set commemorating the team’s 1909 World Series title is by far the more well-known release. Additionally, Tip Top created a set in 1921 featuring the minor league Baltimore Orioles team.