New book solves mysteries about the iconic 1948 Leaf baseball set....or is it 1949?
Thanks to a new book, a few hobby mysteries may finally be solved. "Re:Leaf" is a 121-page book written by informed collector Brian Kappel, which delves deep into some of the debated hobby details surrounding the original Leaf Candy and Card Company and its 1948-1949 baseball card release. The book became a family affair, as he enlisted assistance from his father, uncle, and sister in putting the research and book together. He traveled to Chicago and the Chicago History Museum for fact-finding, thoroughly explored hobby message boards, interacted with hobby historians, and even utilized local Chicago neighborhood Facebook message boards—all in search of the truth.
Thanks to a court document in which Marshall Leaf himself testified that the first shipment of 1948 Leaf Baseball cards headed to Boston on March 14th, 1949! Through his diligence, Kappel also discovered that Leaf did most everything in-house, used the same cardboard from the candy packaging side, and used inks that were available at the time, which led to color variations and discrepancies. The book touches on much more and features some great pictures and illustrations highlighting the findings. With some of those findings, Brian has petitioned PSA Grading to denote some of the Leaf variations on their PSA flips, but so far, to no avail.
A great read for anyone who loves the hobby, its history, and wants to uncover the answers to some of the questions we've long wondered about regarding the Leaf brand and its now-famous 1949 Leaf set.
Has over 40 years of hobby experience as a collector, former LCS owner, and show dealer. He's the host of Sports Card Nation Podcast and has written for numerous hobby entities