![Topps U S Presidents](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-06/Topps%20U%20S%20Presidents.jpg?itok=9BWF8lML)
This may be the President of the United States of America, but behind him probably unknown to many collectors, even military ones, is a representation of D-Day. For it was he who decided to send his troops into battle on the Normandy beaches, and he only did that on the evening before the landings. He weighed it carefully, whether the risks of waiting outweighed the risks of going ahead, and in the end he decided they did.
So I did use the Bowmans version of this set before - you can see it as the entry for Sunday the 2nd of July in our newsletter of the 30th of June 2023, The front is very similar to ours with the emblem and the banner, but the back is very plain indeed. However, the Bowman version actually came first, in 1952. Their set has thirty six cards but only thirty three Presidents, because that was all there were up until 1952. Now thirty three is a good number but it does not fill a standard sheet for printing, and so they added three extra cards of historical events.
Bowman, of Philadelphia, was a bubble gum manufacturer, and had been since the late 1920s. But in 1956 the company was bought by Topps, of New York City, and they ceased all mention of the Bowman name. That is until 1989, when they suddenly brought it back. But what seems to have happened is that in with the buyout was the artwork of these U.S, Presidents cards, and it was decided to re-issue them as Topps cards, with different backs so there could be no confusion.