[hank_jp]

When I started collecting, I recall some of the 1950's Bowman's but when the 1952 Topps cards appeared they were the only baseball cards we were interested in. Error cards, misprints if we saw any, meant nothing to us, only the picture of the players on front. We had no concept that cards were printed on sheets, cut up and randomly put into packs, but we sure knew was what the gum tasted like and doubtless we can still recognize the smell and taste 60+ years later. No one cared about centering or sharp corners. We held these cards, studied their backs, carried them in our pockets to school, usually wrapped in a rubber band to keep them together, and waited until we got that next nickel to spend on another pack at the candy store.
The 1952's were big and beautiful and we loved them. We couldn't wait to add more players to the team we rooted for. Gus Zerniel with all those baseballs was an oddity to us and Jackie Robinson stood out in the set as he did on the field. The 1953's with full face images were also very striking. The 1954's with a big picture and and a small action shot and team logo was like getting a bonus. For me, these were the best years bar none. None of my friends, what were we, 8, 9, 10 year olds ever heard of T206's or Goudey or Playball ... and our mothers, for the most part never grasped the concept of private property.
Collecting cards were not limited to sports in those days. We had so many other colorful cards to enjoy. Look n See, Flags of All nations, Frank Buck's Bring em Back Alive, Rails & Sails, Wings, World on Wheels, Jets Rockets and Spacemen and Presidents. It seems between our cards, comics and Classic Illustrated we got quite an education and boy was it fun.
But red backs, black backs, gray backs or white backs - we could care less.
However if we were Dodger fans we wanted Duke Snider and Giant fans wanted Willie Mays and it didn't matter if we had to trade a Mickey Mantle to get them.
To quote Bob Hope, "Thanks for the memories."