Sets in my collection #23: 1942 Gum Inc. War Gum

Nearing the end of a HUGE project. Details hopefully tomorrow, by the weekend for sure. Since I don't have the time to look at the boxes of cards I've gotten, or to type up another post in my NBA encyclopedia, here is a post in my Sets in my collection series that I wrote up back in 2015 and has been sitting in my queue ever since.

This is a pretty spectacular set. It's 132 cards and it was issued right in the midst of World War II. Remember my comments on the 1939 World in Arms set? Well, Gum Inc. has changed it's tune, now going all-out for the war effort...the USA was now at war with Germany, Japan and Italy. While still mostly objective, current slang terms now appeared on the cards, especially in regards to the Japanese.

It's also a large set for that time period, at 132 cards. I have 9 of them. (6.8% according to the Database) This is another set I want to complete some day. As a history buff and a card nut, this set is a clear favorite of mine.

Here are two card fronts, and one back. I couldn't post just one!

#66

#70

Note also the "Buy War Bonds and Stamps for VICTORY" on the bottom of the card.

Cards are slightly smaller than current standard size, but that appears to have been Gum, Inc's standard at the time as all three sets I have from the company are the same size. Gum, Inc, of course, later became known as Bowman; but the card size in the Bowman era was different.

I actually didn't know this set existed until I added it to my collection. I had mistakenly believed I was purchasing Horrors of War- known as the king of non-sports sets (also produced by Gum, Inc, in 1937) and not realizing the truth until I got home and started researching it online. While Horrors of War is still high on my wantlist (I don't have any yet) it actually turns out that had I known this set existed, it would have actually ranked higher on my list of sets wanted for my collection! (Between writing this in November 2015 and now I've added three Horrors of War to my collection)