1952 Red Man Tobacco baseball cards

Tobacco cards hadn't been produced in decades when Red Man issued their baseball card set in 1952. There were 52 cards in the set, each measuring 3-1/2"x4" (not including a 1/2-inch tab at the bottom, meant to be cut away).

Card fronts featured color artwork taken from a player photograph, alongside a white block of text giving the player's name, position, team, and basic statistics as well as a biographical paragraph. Card backs featured advertisements for other Red Man products.

The set consisted of 25 top players, and one manager, from both the National and American leagues. The players were chosen by J. G. Taylor Spink, then editor of the Sporting News.

Each card was printed with a 1/2-inch white tab at the bottom; tabs were meant to be cut away and then sent in for a free baseball cap from the company. Cards are priced with and without the tab; naturally, cards with the tab intact command a higher price due to relative scarcity. Tabless cards are generally worth 25-50% of corresponding tabbed cards.

Card number and year of issue were given on the tab.

Prominent players in this set included Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Pee Wee Reese, Ted Williams, and Bob Feller.