I quickly snapped this photo while scurrying about the 2024 National Sports Collectors Convention because it looked familiar.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.postwarcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/PictureCardCollectorsClubBox-1.jpeg?resize=634%2C900&ssl=1)
Once I got home from the show, I remembered the logo was also on the back of 1950 Bowman baseball and football cards.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.postwarcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1950BowmanRobinsonRev.jpeg?resize=650%2C386&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.postwarcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1950BowmanCanadeoRev.jpeg?resize=650%2C386&ssl=1)
Details are super scarce, so please contact me if you have more info, but in the early 50s, I remember collectors mentioning that Bowman tried having a collectors club akin to Topps’ Trading Card Guild (Picture Card Collectors Club). The Topps Archives mentions it in a piece titled Re-Rack. Given the boxes below, it could have been how Bowman re-packed unsold cards.
I found that Lelands has sold a pair of these boxes. This first one was titled 1953-54 Bowman Television & Radio Stars/Power For Peace Partial Cello Box (27/36).
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.postwarcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1953BowmanPartialCelloBox-1.jpg?resize=750%2C665&ssl=1)
It sold for just under $2k in February 2019.
This second example is a 1953 Bowman Power For Peace/NBC Radio & Television Stars Cello Box with 14 Packs. It sold for $879 in March 2022.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.postwarcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1953BowmanCelloBox-1.jpg?resize=600%2C655&ssl=1)
The BBCE website has an out-of-stock 1953 Bowman TV & Radio Stars Cello Box that they had offered for $8k.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.postwarcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/BBCE1953BowmanCelloFr.png?resize=621%2C650&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.postwarcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/BBCE1953BowmanCelloRev.png?resize=650%2C446&ssl=1)
I also had the following early Bowman cello box in my photo archives; REA sold it in 2021 for $3,960. They resold the same box in August 2024 for $6,900.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.postwarcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1953BowmanCelloBox01.jpg?resize=750%2C747&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.postwarcards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1953BowmanCelloBox02.jpg?resize=750%2C529&ssl=1)
Again, please let me know if you have more information about Bowman’s 5-Star Series Picture Card Collectors Club.
Check out The Unopened Archive for more!