1954 Bowman Football Card Set

The 1954 Bowman Football Card Set was a set of football cards released by Bowman Gum in 1954, consisting of 128 cards. They were packaged in two ways: 1-cent wax packs, which had one card inside, and 5-cent packs, which contained 7 cards. Both came with a piece of gum, causing some cards to have permanent stains on them. The two most popular cards of the set were Otto Graham (#40) & the rookie card of George Blanda (#23).

Printing
The cards were printed on four sheets, each consisting of 32 cards. Card numbers 65-96 were short-prints, meaning there weren't as many printed. Because of this, they are more valuable than most other cards in the set. A common issue caused by the printing is the centering of the cards, making it very rare to find a card perfectly centered.

Appearance
The cards measure 2-1/2 by 3-3/4, making them slightly taller than the measurements of current cards, which are 2-1/2 by 3-1/2. The front of the card has a picture of the player on it with a banner that shows the name of the player, the team, & the team's logo. The back of the card is horizontal; the left side has a depiction of a football with the player's name and position inside. The team is on the top right, and the card number is on the top left. Under the ball contains the college the player attended, as well as their residence, age, height, & weight. Below that is a trivia question about the sport. The right of the card contains a short biography of the player. Under the biography, there are the player's statistics from the past season. For linemen & special players, the statistics are instead an explanation of a referee's signal. There are a few cards in the set that have a horizontal front, which is for players who were given awards for their performance or if they were elected to play in a special game such as the Pro Bowl.

Value
Compared to other football card sets from the 1950s, the 1954 set is not as expensive. This is mainly due to the fact that over 250 unopened boxes of 1954 & 1955 football cards were found in Paris, Tennessee, in 1987. Complete sets go anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000.

Checklist
• # Ray Mathews

• # John Huzvar

• # Jack Scarbath

• # Doug Atkins

• # Bill Stits

• # Joe Perry

• # Kyle Rote

• # Norm Van Brocklin

• # Pete Pihos

• # Babe Pharilli

• # Zeke Bratkowski

• # Ollie Matson

• # Pat Brady

• # Fred Enke

• # Harry Ulinski

• # Bobby Garrett

• # Bill Bowman

• # Leo Rucka

• # John Cannady

• # Tom Fears

• # Norm Willey

• # Floyd Reid

• # George Blanda

• # Don Dohoney

• # John Schweder

• # Bert Rechichar

• # Harry Dowda

• # John Sandusky

• # Les Bingaman

• # Joe Arenas

• # Ray Wietecha

• # Elroy Hirsch

• # Harold Giancanelli

• # Bill Howton

• # Fred Morrison

• # Bobby Cavazos

• # Darrell Hogan

• # Buddy Young

• # Charlie Justice

• # Otto Graham

• # Doak Walker

• # Y. A. Tittle

• # Buford Long

• # Vonley Quinlan

• # Bobby Thomason

• # Fred Cone

• # Gerald Weatherly

• # Don Stonesifer

• # Lynn Chandnois

• # George Taliaferro

• # Dick Alban

• # Lou Groza

• # Bobby Layne

• # Hugh McElhenny

• # Frank Gifford

• # Leon McLaughlin

• # Chuck Bednarik

• # Art Hunter

• # Bill McColl

• # Charley Trippi

• # Jim Finks

• # Bill Lange

• # Laurie Niemi

• # Ray Renfro

• # Dick Chapman

• # Bob Hantla

• # Ralph Starkey

• # Don Paul

• # Kenneth Snyder

• # Tobin Rote

• # Art DeCarlo

• # Tom Keane

• # Hugh Taylor

• # Warren Lahr

• # Jim Neal

• # Leo Nomellini

• # Dick Yelvington

• # Les Richter

• # Bucko Kilroy

• # John Martinkovic

• # Dale Dodrill

• # Ken Jackson

• # Paul Lipscomb

• # John Bauer

• # Lou Creekmur

• # Eddie Price

• # Ken Farragut

• # Dave Hanner

• # Don Boll

• # Chet Hanulak

• # Thurman McGraw

• # Don Heinrich

• # Dan McKown

• # Bob Fleck

• # Jerry Hilgenberg

• # Bill Walsh

• # Tom Finnan

• # Paul Barry

• # Harry Jagade

• # Jack Christiansen

• # Gordon Saltau

• # Emlen Tunnell

• # Stan West

• # Jerry Williams

• # Veryl Switzer

• # Billy Stone

• # Jerry Watford

• # Elbert Nickel

• # Ed Sharkey

• # Steve Meilinger

• # Dante Lavelli

• # Leon Hart

• # Charlie Conerly

• # Richard Lemmon

• # Al Carmichael

• # George Connor

• # John Olszewski

• # Ernie Stautner

• # Ray Smith

• # Neil Worden

• # Jim Dooley

• # Arnold Galiffa

• # Kline Gilbert

• # Bob Hoernschemeyer

• # Wilford White

• # Art Spinney

• # Joe Koch

• # John Lattner