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Posted By: barrysloate

Back in the 1980's it was real easy getting in to see the baseball cards. I would make an appointment over the phone and just show up. They were real friendly and would show you pretty much anything you wanted to see. The problem is way too many people started to come in to see the baseball. The visitors were starting to damage the albums, and I'm willing to bet things were stolen too. The 1933 Goudey Lajoie was hanging unprotected hinged by a piece of adhesive tape on the back. God knows how many people got their hands on it.
Finally they just had to put a stoip to the visits. They would only let people in if they had a research project. The last time I went was about six or seven years ago with Jay Miller. It became clear that they were much less likely to want to show the collection. And since all anyone wanted to see was baseball, it just became too big a nuisance. Baseball just became too popular and they must feel all these people coming in are wasting their time.Im sure it's even worse today.