Jackie Robinson almost never had a card wearing the famous 42!
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The most famous uniform number in baseball, not to mention all of sports, is 42, and with good reason. It is the number Jackie Robinson wore when he made his Brooklyn Dodgers debut on April 15, 1947, and the only number he wore all ten years he played for the team. It is a number not just synonymous with the legendary ballplayer but one synonymous with a Mount Rushmore of ideals that transcend sport itself: courage, resilience, equality, and progress.
The Early Years
Though Jackie's Bowman and Leaf cards from 1949 are the ones that meet today's modern standards for rookie cards, the truth is his first cards as a Dodger date all the way back to 1947. However, not a single one of these cards shows Jackie's famous number 42. This is partly because Brooklyn jerseys did not include uniform numbers on the front until 1952 and partly because some of Jackie's earliest Dodger cards featured doctored images from his Montreal Royals days.
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The 1950s
At least in theory then, cards of Jackie from 1952 stood a decent chance of showing his iconic number. However, for a mix of reasons, none did. Either the images excluded the number portion of Robinson's jersey, the cards reused pre-1952 photos, or Jack's arms covered up the image portion that might have shown a number. Ditto 1953 and 1954.
Finally, in Robinson's penultimate season, at least a partial "42" made it onto a card. Specifically, his 1955 Topps card's action pose shows both a 4 and (arguably) the tiniest portion of a 2. As the same image is repeated on his 1955 Topps Double Header card, that makes two cards to show at least a portion of the famous number. Still, what if collectors want the full 42?
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Here, the answer is rather surprising. The full "42," as it turns out, does not make a single appearance on any of Robinson's playing era cards. Even by Jackie's summer 1962 Hall of Fame induction, his famous number had yet to appear on any post-career trading cards of the legendary player. In fact, not a single Robinson card produced during his lifetime showed the iconic number 42 in full.
Finally Making It
Just how long did it take for an entire "42" to make it onto a Robinson card? A full 50 years after Jackie's Dodger debut! That said, Robinson's cards in 1997 were a definite case of when it rains it pours. One of the clearest examples from the year is Jackie's 1997 Upper Deck #7, part of a nine-card Robinson subset. On this card, we see the entire back of Jackie's uniform as he runs the bases.
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A review of other Robinson cards from 1997 will reveal several more complete uniform numbers, though surprisingly none of the hits come from Topps. While Upper Deck, Kenner Starting Lineup, and even Denny's get in on the action, the closest Topps came was showing just over half the number on a card back. So there you have it...42 is the most iconic number in all of sports, but if all you had was the first 50 years of Jackie Robinson trading cards, you might never know it!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.