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1953 Pictsweet and Top Taste Bread Milwaukee Braves Baseball Poster Set and Checklist

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Specs

Year: 1953

Title: Pictsweet Milwaukee Braves; Top Taste Bread Milwaukee Braves

Size: 8-1/2″ by 11-1/4″

Number in Set: 19

Overview

The Standard Catalog has long listed the 1953 Pictsweet and Top Taste Bread Milwaukee Braves posters as separate sets, but since the National Tea Company owned both brands and the posters share the same design, I’ve listed them together.

The Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee for the 1953 season, and a lot of companies signed endorsement deals with the coaches and players. Reportedly, the National Tea Company signed the players and coaches for $50, which included unlimited bread and frozen products.

The posters are black and white, featuring players in front of gray backgrounds holding either a loaf of Top Taste Bread or the Pictsweet product. Beneath the photos are some basic player information (their position and team name) and the player’s name in large black block letters. I believe the back of the posters is blank.

Examples are incredibly scarce and tend to be in poor condition since they were taped to windows/displays.

Examples

1953 Pictsweet Milwaukee Braves Eddie Mathews
1953 Top Taste Bread Milwaukee Braves Joe Adcock
1953 Pictsweet Milwaukee Braves “Bullet Bill” Bruton

Key Cards

Every poster is exceedingly rare. My 2010 Standard Catalog lists every poster at $150, and the last (and only) public sale I could find was when a pair of Joe Adcock (Top Taste Bread) and “Bullet Bill” Burton (Pictsweet Peas) sold for $372 in April 2020. But I’d wager that the Eddie Mathews and Warren Spahn posters would be the most expensive.

Checklist

Joe Adcock, TopTaste bread

Johnny Antonelli, Pictsweet orange juice

Vern Bickford, Top Taste bread

“Bullet Bill” Bruton, Pictsweet peas

Lew Burdette, Top Taste bread

Walker Cooper, Pictsweet cauliflower

Del Crandall, Top Taste bread

George Crowe, Top Taste bread

Sid Gordon, Pictsweet strawberries

Charlie Grimm, Pitsweet strawberries

Harry Hanebrink, Top Taste bread

Johnny Logan, Pictsweet carrots

Eddie Mathews, Pictsweet orange juice

Andy Pafko, Top Taste bread

Jim Pendleton, Pictsweet corn

Sibby Sisti, Pictsweet (product unrecorded)

Warren Spahn, Top Taste bread

Max Surkont, Pictsweet green beans

Bucky Walters, Toop Taste bread