1948 R346 Blue Tint

Card #5 - John Lindell

---

Among the first cards to appear after the end of World War Two, Blue Tints are named after the blue ink used on their fronts. Guides vary on the date of issue, with some claiming 1947 and others claiming 1948 and SCD even mentioning they were issued into 1949. Normally, a glance at the set checklist could help narrow the date but a couple of retired players in the set make that impossible.

The cards are small, measuring 2" by 2 5/8". They feature a blue-tinted picture taken from team-issued photos, some showing traces of facsimile autographs. The player's name, team and a card number appear below the photo inside the white border area. The cards are blank, although Blue Tints can occasionally be found with "mirror images" on the back due to still-wet ink from the printing sheet behind it during their production. There are 48 numbered cards in the set.

The cards aren't widely collected and little is known about the company that manufactured them. However, since a high number of players featured in the set played for the three New York teams of the era, it can be inferred the company was based near there. An early card of Jackie Robinson is in the set, along with final cards of Hank Greenberg and Mel Ott, who both retired in 1947. Ott's card can be found in two variations, as can Leo Durocher. Oddly, Lou Gehrig appears in the set even though had had been out of baseball since 1939 and had died at least five years before the set was issued.

Even though they were classified as R-series cards by Jefferson Burdick in the American Card Catalog, R346 Blue Tints were distributed in strips of eight cards, which should have had them classified as W-series cards. However, since Burdick's classification system described R-series as "recent," their post-World War Two issue date may have been a bigger factor than the way they were distributed.

1948 R346 Blue Tint

1. Bill Johnson
2a. Leo Durocher (Brooklyn)
2b. Leo Durocher (New York)
3. Marty Marion
4. Ewell Blackwell
5. John Lindell
6. Larry Jansen
7. Ralph Kiner
8. Chuck Dressen
9. Bobby Brown
10. Luke Appling
11. Bill Nicholson
12. Bill Masi
13. Frank Shea
14. Bob Dillinger
15. Pete Suder
16. Joe DiMaggio
17. John Corriden
18a. Mel Ott (New York)
18b. Mel Ott (No Team Designation)
19. Warren Rosar
20. Warren Spahn
21. Allie Reynolds
22. Lou Boudreau
23. Harry Majeski
24. Frank Crosetti
25. Gus Niarhos
26. Bruce Edwards
27. Rudy York
28. Don Black
29. Lou Gehrig
30. Johnny Mize
31. Ed Stanky
32. Vic Raschi
33. Cliff Mapes 
34. Enos Slaughter
35. Hank Greenberg
36. Jackie Robinson
37. Frank Hiller
38. Bob Elliot
39. Harry Walker
40. Ed Lopat
41. Bobby Thomson
42. Tommy Henrich
43. Bobby Feller
44. Ted Williams
45. Dixie Walker
46. Johnny Vander Meer
47. Clint Hartung
48. Charlie Keller