1956 Topps Football is the company's first officially licensed NFL trading card product. This came as a result of the acquisition of their long-time competitor Bowman. This inaugural release was the start of an annual issue of Topps NFL football cards that continues today. Consisting of 120 total cards, measuring 2-5/8 by 3-5/8 inches, key rookie cards include Roosevelt Brown (#41), Lenny Moore (#60), and Rosey Grier (#101). Alex Webster (#5), Joe Schmidt (#44), Bill George (#47) and Stan Jones (#71) also have their first cards in the set. A few noteworthy Hall of Fame players are also included in the set, namely Lou Groza (#9), George Blanda (#11) and Frank Gifford (#53).
Card Design
The front of the cards resemble the 1955 Bowman football cards in several ways. A player photo is set against a solid color background designated specifically for that team. A white aura (though smaller than the one in 1955) is added around the player's image. The player's team logo is placed in an upper corner of the card, and a box at the bottom contains the player's name, team and position. Again, the color of the boxes is team-specific. A white border surrounds the card. Card backs feature an outline of a football in red that contains the card number and Topps Football around it. A red box running across the top portion of the card houses the player's name, team and position. The rest of the card is split into two sections, with a short biography on the left and a trivia-based cartoon on the right. For some players, a line of statistics for the previous year and lifetime totals runs along the bottom of the card.
In addition to the player checklist, a team photograph card was created for each team which names each player by his last name and includes an overall history of the team and all-time team statistical records on the back. Some cards were not numbered within the set but are collected by advanced hobbyists. One is a checklist card that lists all 120 cards. Five contest cards that ask fans to guess the scores of upcoming games were also distributed inside packs. Master set collectors include these six cards in set registries, bringing the total number of cards in the set to 126.
Printing and Distribution
The 1956 Topps Football card set was printed in a single series. For some reason, all the players (and team cards) from the Washington Redskins and Chicago Cardinals were short-printed. They considered scarce as they were printed in much smaller quantities than those of other cards in the set. The cards were originally distributed in one-cent packs containing a single card and five-cent packs that came with five cards. Both types of packs came with a stick of gum.
While 1956 Topps Football has been under-appreciated, there is a growing interest in assembling this first-year gridiron offering from Topps. In comparison to other sets from the 1950s, it remains relatively affordable. However, secondary market prices for high-grade singles continues to rise alongside the set's overall popularity.
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Key 1956 Topps Football Cards
Chicago Cardinals #22
Lenny Moore RC #60
Washington Redskins #61
Jack Carson #1
Rosey Grier #101
Frank Gifford #53
