John England
 

Just heard that Fort Smith, Arkansas dealer John England passed away from cancer yesterday. He sold his collection to Larry Fritsch back in the 80s for over a million dollars I believe. Tbob/Bob Marquette knows a lot more about the deal than I do. I know a few people on here bought from Mr. England back in the day and thought I would pass it along......Jerry

first vintage card
 

Here is the first vintage card I bought...purchased from Mr. England in the early 80s when I was a first or second grader.....bought right out from Tbob too.....he got there five minutes late...don't know if he remembers that or not....I assume he finally picked one up.....Jerry

I bought from him at the national in 2015. That's really terrible to hear.

I live nearby and did a lot of business with John when I was just getting started. I have some great memories of going up that spiral stair case to his shop. At the time, I hadn't seen a selection of vintage like that. What a nice man and encouraging to a young collector. I always hoped he'd reopen.

John England was one of the 13 collectors who attended the first-ever sports collectors' convention in Brea, California on August 23, 1969, driving there all the way from Arkansas with his wife Patty. He displayed his type collection and his T205 and T206 sets, and was voted "Card Collector of the Year". I posted a couple of articles about that show here:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=221671

Thanks
 

Thanks David......that article was great..........Jerry

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John England
 

John was the first guy in the "organized hobby" I ever dealt with. As a 13 year old in 1963 I came upon some 1939 Play Ball cards from a guy named Bud Ackerman in VA who was also dealing in Japanese cards. He also gave me the first hobby publication I had ever seen. Forget which one. John had an ad in it looking for some 39 Play Balls I just got from Bud..

I had NO idea on the value of the Play Balls. I had a handful he needed and traded them to him for what must have been a very nice haul that he offered me.

The only reason I know this is because my next (attempted) deal in the "organized hobby" was with Chuck Blazina in Pittsburgh. He wanted some of the Play Balls too and sent a list of things he had for trade. He said pick out what you want. I sent him a letter asking for what I thought was fair based on what John gave me. Well, I got a BLISTERING letter from Chuck saying who do I think i am asking for so much for the Play Balls, trying to rob him etc. etc.!!

Met both men later at the early Detroit and Cleveland shows in the early 70's. Had a good laugh with Chuck when I explained the story to him.

Needless to say John was a SUPER nice guy.

oh.......and I had a big CRUSH on his wife Patti.

Fred

Thanks for the news Jerry. I started visiting John's shop in Fort smith back in the mid-70's. A true gentleman in every respect.

On one trip I was helping a friend move back from college in Fayetteville. His Dad was the local Schlitz distributor so we were in a giant Schlitz truck. When we parked in front of Vivian's Bookshop where John had his shop upstairs we took up half a block. John never let me forget that stop!

I remember buying a complete set of 1958 Topps football on that stop for $8.00.

Vivian
 

The lady that owned the bookstore...well some things are better left unsaid.....I was a little kid and would forget to close her door---her door didn't shut automatically---and she would always ask me if I was born in a barn....one time my dad actually took us and she asked the same thing...my dad said "of course he was born in a barn we're from Crawford County"....a little local humor....Jerry

LOL...I remember her. What a sweetheart! Also, she had that way of asking, "Can I help you?" and you could obviously tell she had less than no interest in actually helping you. Then, at the same time, she appeared a bit aggravated when she saw we were headed upstairs to the cards.

I remember that iron spiral staircase going upstairs and at the top was a beautiful 1965 Martine Bercher jersey #17. Only older Razorback fans would understand.

I remember John England well. I sold him many complete Topps Baseball sets and a 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set in 1977 at a Kansas City Show at the Sheraton Royal Hotel.

I was 16 years old at the time and it was my first $1000 deal.

He was a real gentleman.

Apologies for renewing a string from two weeks ago. I joined this forum (though I'm not qualified!) just to comment here on this topic. I, too, was a kid from Fort Smith and I count my memories of being in Mr. England's Card Shop near the top of all of my memories. He called all the kids "sugar" and treated us the right way. He was a big part of why I love baseball. I'd walk four or five miles (under the guise of going to my Dad's office) just to go there for a couple of hours. I'd get haircuts down the street just so I could go there. I spent all of my allowance there. He somehow got me started on my Hank Aaron card collection, which I still treasure. Sometimes, I'd go in and sit and listen to the Cardinals on the radio with him. I'm sure I faded from his memory over time, but he never did from mine. And when his shop and Vivien's disappeared, it was like part of my childhood went with it. I was actively going there when the news ran about his selling his collection. I remember trying to ask him about it a week later, but this pre-teen kid didn't understand stuff like that. Anyway, what a guy. My brother sent the obituary the other day - see, my brother had a similar experience...most of the kids did. I've been looking for a place to honor Mr. England ever since. Thanks for letting me do so right here.

In the meantime, this is an awesome forum, and I will try to keep up as I have time. I still have boxes of cards...not worth much...but pretty valuable to the kid who spent so much time in the Card Shop. You guys look like you get a ton of enjoyment talking about this stuff. That's what it's all about, right?

Thanks,
Ed


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Ed, welcome to our community. This was a very well thought out and respectful post. I wish I had known Mr. England but he was a bit before I got back into the hobby. We hope you stay and join in sometime. If you love to collect this is a good and friendly place *(usually :)). Take care friend!!

Ed-- A sincere welcome to our community. I loved your reminisces about John England. Very moving, bro. You expressed them well.

Baseball cards are one of those things that really takes us back to our childhood, tween, and sometimes even teenage years. Those beloved pasteboards put us within walking distance to our childhood. Glad you've got some nice memories. Please, Ed, continue to share with us.

Hey, buddy, at least you've got a bunch of your old cards left. I've got some, and other I sold---and wish I had back now!:(

You can't sell your memories, however. Some of them are---priceless. Take care, Ed. Hope to read a post from you soon. ----Brian Powell

Great story!

Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the site. :)

Thanks for the post, Ed. It sounds like you and I have some very similar experiences and memories from going to his old shop. I really miss it all.

Thanks Leon!


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Thanks Brian!


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Thanks Irv!


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Thanks for the reply!


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Here's an article that John England wrote for the September 1965 issue of The Sports Trader, the earliest of his hobby articles that I've been able to find.

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...60827_0002.jpg

Thanks
 

Thanks David.....I like the mention of the $250 T206 Wagner.......Jerry