Your catalog cut came from either the 1951 or the 1952 Brunswick Mail Order Catalog. They were the same. The page preceding yours shows the well known Ivorylene darted ball.
The new phenolic resin non-darted Centennial ball was introduced in the 1951 Brunswick Mail Order Catalog. It was shown on the page following the darted Ivorylene ball, the Brunswick flagship for many years. That catalog alignment was repeated again in 1952. Brunswick, wisely, brought the phenolic resin concept forward slowly. The darted phenolic resin Centennial ball was introduced in the 1953 catalog, but it still followed the darted Ivorylene ball, and that alignment was repeated again in 1954. Finally, in 1955, the more recognizable darted phenolic resin Centennial ball received its own singular graphic billing, with the Ivorylene ball only mentioned in a paragraph in the slot below.
I have never held the earliest version of the non-darted Centennial ball in my hands, so I can't describe the texture or the configuration of the number font on each ball. Even though phenolic ball manufacturing had been around since before World War II, it was still in its infancy as far as being an established process is concerned. Endolithic had used throw-away glass molds, but ABB Co. was developing re-usable molds that helped streamline the injection molding process. Much of the true injection molding processing was, however, a direct spin-off from the very important use of Bakelite and its derivatives in the World War II war effort. Balls were fairly easy to make, so the ramp-up was fairly quick.
OK, back to the Centennial. The early darted Centennial balls used a finer, thinner font on the numbers and the circle/darts that defined the design. In 1958, the Brunswick Centennial finally received complete recognition with an action, full color blast on the last page of the catalog. I can't swear to it, but I think the 1958 version is the beginning of the reign of glory that lasted until 1985.
