1953 Bowman Color Baseball Cards

The 1953 Bowman baseball card set consisted of 160 cards, each measuring 2-1/2"x3-3/4" in size.

The was the first set of then-current major league players to feature actual color photographs, rather than tinted photos as had been used by everyone previously. For this and other reasons (including its clean design), this remains one of the most popular postwar baseball card sets.

Note: Bowman also produced a smaller black-and-white set the same year. Thus, the regular 1953 Bowman series is often referred to as 'Bowman Color.'

This was also the first Bowman set to show player statistics on the card backs (an idea probably stolen from Topps). Also on the backs were the usual biographical data and (if there was room) a brief paragraph about the player's career.

The high-number cards of this set are harder to locate, with #113-128 being especially difficult, and thus more expensive.

Prominent players in this set include Stan Musial, Pee Wee Reese, Mickey Mantle, Gil Hodges, Warren Spahn, Bob Feller, Duke Snider, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Billy Martin.