1954 Red Heart Dog Food

This set of 33 unnumbered cards was issued by Red Heart brand dog food ('The Big League Dog Food') in 1954. The cards measure 2-5/8"x3-3/4" in size.

Card fronts feature a hand-tinted player photograph with the player's name in a horizontal diamond, with team name at the bottom. The photo backgrounds are a solid red, green, or blue. Card backs show basic player data and a brief paragraph of career info, with a Red Heart advertisement at the bottom.

The cards were issued in 3 series of 11 cards each (distinguished by the color of the photo background), available by mail order. The red-background cards are considered the most scarce of the three sets.

Reportedly, the company continued sending the cards by mail as late as the early 1970's.

Prominent players in the set include Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Duke Snider, and Warren Spahn.