NonSports Forum

Net54baseball.com
Welcome to Net54baseball.com. These forums are devoted to both Pre- and Post- war baseball cards and vintage memorabilia, as well as other sports. There is a separate section for Buying, Selling and Trading - the B/S/T area!! If you write anything concerning a person or company your full name needs to be in your post or obtainable from it. . Contact the moderator at leon@net54baseball.com should you have any questions or concerns. When you click on links to eBay on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. Enjoy!
Net54baseball.com
Net54baseball.com
ebay GSB
T206s on eBay
Babe Ruth Cards on eBay
t206 Ty Cobb on eBay
Ty Cobb Cards on eBay
Lou Gehrig Cards on eBay
Baseball T201-T217 on eBay
Baseball E90-E107 on eBay
T205 Cards on eBay
Baseball Postcards on eBay
Goudey Cards on eBay
Baseball Memorabilia on eBay
Baseball Exhibit Cards on eBay
Baseball Strip Cards on eBay
Baseball Baking Cards on eBay
Sporting News Cards on eBay
Play Ball Cards on eBay
Joe DiMaggio Cards on eBay
Mickey Mantle Cards on eBay
Bowman 1951-1955 on eBay
Football Cards on eBay

Go Back   Net54baseball.com Forums > Net54baseball Main Forum - WWII & Older Baseball Cards > Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 05-04-2016, 11:27 PM
trdcrdkid's Avatar
trdcrdkid trdcrdkid is offline
David Kathman
member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 1,554
Default More on 1969 and the dawn of card conventions

In a post two months ago called "1969: The dawn of card conventions" (here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=218969), I posted three articles from Sports Collectors' News in 1968-69 about the earliest attempts to get sports collectors together for conventions, including the first annual West Coast Sports Collectors Convention held at the home of Jim Nowell on August 23, 1969, generally acknowledged as the first such convention. Then last week I posted (here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=221671) a lengthy account of that 1969 gathering that Nowell wrote for the November 1969 Ballcard Collector.

Here are some more articles from 1969 hobby publications that provide important background for that first-ever convention. The first one is from the front page of the February 1969 Sports Trader, a "News Release" in which Art Oullette and Peter Bogert ask collectors from New England, New York, and New Jersey to contact them in order to gauge interest in their "pipe dream" of a sports collectors' convention. As far as I know, this convention of theirs never happened, but Oullette did attend the first New England mini-convention at the home of Mike Anderson in December 1969, as Anderson wrote about in the January 1970 Trader Speaks (here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=219732).

Next, in the April 1969 Ballcard Collector (which actually reached subscribers in March), Edward Broder wrote an article on "Card Collecting on the West Coast" in which he described a "convention" that had been held at Jim Nowell's house in Fullerton, California. It seems like a stretch to call it a convention, since there were only five collectors there (Nowell, Broder, Don Ortolani, Ray Medeiros, and Don Roberts), but Broder considered it a "historical" event at which everybody had a great time, and he suggested that more such events should take place.

Then, in the March 1969 Sports Trader (actually published in April), editor-publisher Richard Burns printed a letter from Broder, in which Broder said that he and Jim Nowell were planning a sports collectors' convention on the West Coast for late summer after his article in The Ballcard Collector had drawn a positive response. He said they were hoping to attract 15 to 25 people, and planned to contact Art Oullette and Pete Bogert to see what they did right and wrong. Burns agreed to send Nowell the names and addresses of past and present Sports Trader subscribers on the West Coast, and suggested that they should aim for 100 to 150 attendees, rather than a measly 15-25.

In the April 1969 Sports Trader (which reached Ray Medeiros on May 20), there is a half-page announcement by Broder and Nowell announcing their convention and asking interested parties to contact them. At the bottom of the page, Burns added mentions of the planned Oullette-Bogert New England convention (which never happened, as noted above), and a Southeastern convention being planned by Irving Becker (which did happen, but not until August 1970: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=219073; I have more on that convention, and may post it later).

Finally, the August 1969 Sports Trader (which reached Medeiros on August 1) had a press release giving the details of the Broder-Nowell convention. This is the same press release that also appeared in the July 1969 Sports Collectors' News, which I posted in the earlier thread. (That issue of SCN did not reach Medeiros until August 26, after the convention had already happened.)

I realize that not everyone here is interested in all this minutiae, but I find it interesting, and think that this stuff deserves to be put on the record as part of the history of our hobby.


The Ballcard Collector, April 1969:

The Sports Trader, March 1969:

The Sports Trader, April 1969:

The Sports Trader, August 1969:
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 06-14-2017, 07:41 AM
Leon's Avatar
Leon Leon is offline
Leon
peasant/forum owner
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: near Dallas
Posts: 34,196
Default

I was doing some searching and found this nugget to read for the last several minutes. Very interesting on early conventions.
__________________
Leon Luckey
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 06-14-2017, 08:27 AM
barrysloate barrysloate is offline
Barry Sloate
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 8,293
Default

It's almost comical that the conventions were held at people's homes.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 06-14-2017, 08:34 AM
Leon's Avatar
Leon Leon is offline
Leon
peasant/forum owner
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: near Dallas
Posts: 34,196
Default

So you are saying the next one isn't at your place?

Quote:
Originally Posted by barrysloate View Post
It's almost comical that the conventions were held at people's homes.
__________________
Leon Luckey
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 06-14-2017, 08:56 AM
barrysloate barrysloate is offline
Barry Sloate
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 8,293
Default

I have room for four tables, and no more than six customers at a time. Refreshments will be in the fridge...help yourself!
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 06-14-2017, 12:56 PM
trdcrdkid's Avatar
trdcrdkid trdcrdkid is offline
David Kathman
member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 1,554
Default

By the way, my avatar is a picture of Irv Lerner, Ray Hess, Ray Medeiros, and Lionel Carter, taken at the second (1970) West Coast convention at Jim Nowell's house. Last year I sent it to Ray Medeiros, who said he had never seen the picture before but that everybody was taking a lot of pictures that day. I posted about that 1970 convention here:

http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=221637
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 06-14-2017, 03:29 PM
Griffins Griffins is offline
Anthøny N. ex
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 1,282
Default

The first one I attended was the '74 convention in Anaheim. At that point there was probably 75 tables and several hundred people, so it had definitely outgrown Jim's house considerably.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 06-14-2017, 03:40 PM
stlcardsfan stlcardsfan is offline
D.an Jackso.n
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Near the STL
Posts: 759
Default

When I first started buying complete sets (1975) I used to deal with a guy named Walter Abe from Foster City, CA. Seemed like a great guy. Guessing he may have been at some of these. His name ring a bell with anyone?
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 06-14-2017, 03:43 PM
talkinbaseball talkinbaseball is offline
John
Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 596
Default Hobby History

If you want to meet one of those fella's in that article(Bob Thing) take a ride up to the Shriner's show in the Fall, he is one of the nicest gentlemen you'll ever want to meet.Talk about history, you'll learn a lot from him.

John
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 06-14-2017, 03:59 PM
Griffins Griffins is offline
Anthøny N. ex
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 1,282
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by stlcardsfan View Post
When I first started buying complete sets (1975) I used to deal with a guy named Walter Abe from Foster City, CA. Seemed like a great guy. Guessing he may have been at some of these. His name ring a bell with anyone?
Doesn't sound familar to me. The main ones back then for complete sets were Larry Fritsch and Stan Martucci. A year or so later Renata Galasso started aggressively marketing, and was a bit cheaper. Merv Willams was a local LA dealer that occasionally had complete sets, but didn't do nearly the volume of the ones mentioned above.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 06-14-2017, 05:18 PM
trdcrdkid's Avatar
trdcrdkid trdcrdkid is offline
David Kathman
member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 1,554
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Griffins View Post
The first one I attended was the '74 convention in Anaheim. At that point there was probably 75 tables and several hundred people, so it had definitely outgrown Jim's house considerably.
The first three West Coast conventions (1969, 1970, 1971) were in Nowell's house, so you weren't that far removed from those days. The early to mid 1970s were a time of exponential growth in shows.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 06-15-2017, 01:15 PM
SteveMitchell SteveMitchell is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 276
Default Walter Abe

Quote:
Originally Posted by stlcardsfan View Post
When I first started buying complete sets (1975) I used to deal with a guy named Walter Abe from Foster City, CA. Seemed like a great guy. Guessing he may have been at some of these. His name ring a bell with anyone?
Walter was one of the first out-of-state dealers to set up at the Washington State Sports Collectors Association convention. I'm guessing the year would have been sometime around 1975 or '76 - possibly later but definitely pre-1980. He did bring a number of smaller complete card sets. Unfortunately, I do not recall anything about him after about 1980 as we left the Pacific Northwest for 6 years before returning in late 1986.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 06-15-2017, 01:43 PM
oaks1912 oaks1912 is offline
Mark Macrae
Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Greater Bay Area
Posts: 382
Default

Walter Abe is still around, in fact owns three stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. He attends the National most years and occasionally will make cameo appearances at the Bay Area shows. Another major asset to the Bay Area's collecting community.... and beyond.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 11-14-2017, 04:06 PM
eddie eddie is offline
member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 2
Default 48 years ago...

Read with interest the stores and comments about the first get together in
Fullerton back in 1969.

I am still alive and well in Las Vegas.

Edward A. Broder
pclbaseball@gmail.com
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 11-14-2017, 06:11 PM
Exhibitman's Avatar
Exhibitman Exhibitman is offline
Ad@m W@r$h@w
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Beautiful Downtown Burbank
Posts: 13,042
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Griffins View Post
The first one I attended was the '74 convention in Anaheim.


Then again, my first show was this one:

__________________
Read my blog; it will make all your dreams come true.

https://adamstevenwarshaw.substack.com/

Or not...
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 11-14-2017, 06:58 PM
trdcrdkid's Avatar
trdcrdkid trdcrdkid is offline
David Kathman
member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 1,554
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by eddie View Post
Read with interest the stores and comments about the first get together in
Fullerton back in 1969.

I am still alive and well in Las Vegas.

Edward A. Broder
pclbaseball@gmail.com
Nice to see you here! Here is another post I wrote about that first convention at Jim Nowell's house, including detailed accounts by Nowell and Dennis Graye:

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

And here's Lionel Carter's account of the second convention at Nowell's house, in 1970:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=221637

And Nowell's account of the 1971 convention:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=218371
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 11-14-2017, 07:56 PM
cardsnstuff cardsnstuff is offline
Tony
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Home of the SB LII Champs
Posts: 355
Default

Good read; Do you have any info on the history of the Philly Show; the earliest I recall was at the George Washington Motor Lodge; where I met "Mr. Mint" as a 10/11 year old and thought man that guy talks fast and he has a lot of cards.
__________________
MY EBAY STORE; If you see something you Like PM me.
If you bought off me and were happy let others know;
if you bought off me and weren't satisfied for whatever reason let me know.
.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 11-14-2017, 08:08 PM
trdcrdkid's Avatar
trdcrdkid trdcrdkid is offline
David Kathman
member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 1,554
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by cardsnstuff View Post
Good read; Do you have any info on the history of the Philly Show; the earliest I recall was at the George Washington Motor Lodge; where I met "Mr. Mint" as a 10/11 year old and thought man that guy talks fast and he has a lot of cards.
Here’s the program from the first Philly show in 1975:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=241369
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 11-15-2017, 06:56 AM
Leon's Avatar
Leon Leon is offline
Leon
peasant/forum owner
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: near Dallas
Posts: 34,196
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by eddie View Post
Read with interest the stores and comments about the first get together in
Fullerton back in 1969.

I am still alive and well in Las Vegas.

Edward A. Broder
pclbaseball@gmail.com
Nice to see you here....
__________________
Leon Luckey
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 11-15-2017, 11:35 AM
BruceinGa BruceinGa is offline
Bruce Fairchild
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Marietta, Ga
Posts: 753
Default

My first was a show at The Galleria in Marietta, Ga about 1988. I took my younger son, 13 at the time. I remember seeing a 52 Mantle, that looked great, selling for about $5000. I told my son that we should but that card. Needless to say we didn't buy it.
__________________
Successful transactions with: Double-P-Enterprises, Thromdog, DavidBvintage, Desert Ice Sports, Kurtz Kardz, Cooperstown Sportscards, BBT206 and tenorvox!
Reply With Quote
Reply



Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
1970 card conventions in The Trader Speaks trdcrdkid Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions 8 03-05-2016 10:04 AM
1969: The dawn of card conventions trdcrdkid Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions 2 03-02-2016 08:55 AM
Sports Conventions - Dealers - Questions Iwantmorecards77 Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions 15 04-02-2010 06:15 PM
Angela Dawn McGuire Archive Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions 4 08-15-2004 06:33 AM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:00 AM.


ebay GSB