Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Last week I added interactive 1956 Topps Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears team cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. You can see them by clicking on the non-interactive images shown here.

Like the other team cards in the 1956 Topps set, these two cards picture the 1955 teams. I believe that all of the players on the Rams card also appear in the 1955 Rams Team Issue set. About six of the players on the Bears card never appeared on cards of their own, so it was nice to give them a little recognition. One of the Bears players, Harry Hugasian, played part of the 1955 season for Baltimore, and he also appears on the Colts team card.

I have now finished making all of the 1956 Topps team cards intereractive; you can see the whole array here. Next up are the team cards in the 1958 Topps set.

Last week I added an interactive 1956 Topps Detroit Lions team card to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. To see it, click on the non-interactive image shown here.

Though it was printed in 1956, the card pictures the 1955 Lions team. About eight of the players in the photo never appeared on cards of their own. One of the things I enjoy about making these team cards is giving the cardless players a little recognition.

This is my tenth interactive 1956 Topps team card; I have two more to go. Next up: the Los Angeles Rams.

Today I added an interactive 1956 Topps Pittsburgh Steelers team card to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. To see it, click on the non-interactive image shown here. Though it was printed in 1956, the card pictures the 1955 Steelers team. You can see a larger version of the 1955 Steelers team photo at steelersuk.com.

As usual, I found a couple of surprises while working on the interactive card. First, I was surprised to see Hall of Fame running back Marion Motley in the back row. I didn’t know it, but Motley, after sitting out the 1954 season, finished his career with Pittsburgh in 1955. Second, center Fred Broussard appears on this card, and he also appears on the 1956 Topps New York Giants team card! Broussard, it turns out, played for both Pittsburgh and New York in 1955, and he ended up in both team pictures.

About nine of the players on the Steelers card never appeared on cards of their own. It’s always fun to give those players a little recognition.

This is my ninth interactive 1956 Topps team card; I have three more to go. Next up: the Detroit Lions.

Earlier this week, eBay seller irishhosta put seven uncut panels of 1956 Topps football cards up for sale. You can see the individual listings here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Following the card arrangement shown on these panels and on a partial sheet I had seen earlier, I was able to complete my virtual uncut sheet of 1956 Topps cards. You can see the full virtual sheet in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

There are a handful of inconsistencies in how the cards are arranged on the panels, so I am not 100% certain of the configuration of the full sheet. I am reasonably sure that the ordering of the rows is correct, but there is a slight chance that some of the cards within the rows are out of place.

Another project of mine is making the team cards in this set “interactive.” You can see my progress in some earlier blog posts.

The newest interactive team card in the Vintage Football Card Gallery is the 1956 Topps Washington Redskins team card. Click on the image pictured here to see the interactive version.

The card pictures the 1955 Redskins team. About fifteen of the players on the card never appeared on cards of their own. While searching for some of the players, I found another, much cooler photo of the 1955 Redskins, with the United States Capitol in the background. Unfortunately, the wide format of the photo wasn’t suited for a football card.

This is my eighth interactive 1956 Topps team card; I have four more to go. Next up: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The newest interactive team cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery are the 1956 Topps Baltimore Colts and New York Giants team cards. Click on the images pictured here to see the interactive versions.

Both cards show the 1955 teams. Three future Hall of Fame coaches appear on the cards: Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry are pictured on the Giants card, and Don Shula is a player on the Colts card. Leroy Vaughn, the father of major league baseball’s Mo Vaughn, also appears with the Colts.

These are my sixth and seventh interactive 1956 Topps team cards; I have five more to go. Next up: the Washington Redskins.

The newest interactive team card in the Vintage Football Card Gallery is the 1956 Topps Cleveland Browns team card. Clicking on the image pictured here will take you to the interactive version.

The card pictures the 1955 Cleveland Browns, who won the NFL championship. Remarkably, at least six of the players on the team later became head coaches in the NFL: Otto Graham, Abe Gibron, Mike McCormack, Walt Michaels, Chuck Noll, and John Sandusky.

This is my fifth interactive 1956 Topps team card; I have seven more to go. Next up: the Baltimore Colts.

The newest interactive team card in the Vintage Football Card Gallery is the 1956 Topps Philadelphia Eagles team card. Clicking on the image pictured here will take you to the interactive version.

At least one of the players on the card will be familiar to CFL fans. After three seasons with the Eagles, Ralph Goldston played nine seasons for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and in those nine seasons, he played in seven Grey Cups. Goldston appeared on several cards with the Tiger-Cats.

I will continue to work on the remaining 1956 Topps team cards as I have time. Next up: the Cleveland Browns.

The newest interactive team card in the Vintage Football Card Gallery is the 1956 Topps Chicago Cardinals card. Clicking on the image pictured here will take you to the interactive version.

This card took awhile, because the image includes a lot of players that I didn’t yet have in my database. It also includes a bunch of owners, managers, coaches, and other non-players. As usual, I found some people I wasn’t expecting: Frank Bernardi, who later appeared with the Broncos on a 1960 Fleer card, and coaches Bob Nowaskey and Tommy Thompson, who had appeared on earlier football cards as players.

I will continue to work on the remaining 1956 Topps team cards as I have time. Next up: the Philadelphia Eagles.

A lot of you liked the interactive 1956 Topps Packers team card I told you about yesterday, so I thought I would knock out another interactive card. This time I did the 1956 Topps 49ers team card. Clicking on the card pictured here will take you to the interactive version.

This card went faster, since most of the players also appear on 1955 49ers team issue photos, and I didn’t have to enter the data for them. Only two players, Frank Mincevich and Lowell Wagner, were not already in my database. Also, there are no coaches or staff in the picture, so I didn’t have to find their information.

I will work on the remaining 1956 Topps team cards as I have time.