Where'd you buy those packs as a kid?

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Posted By: CLAUDE

Bob...are those series 3 packs from 1953???!!!! Also, what are those "Wings" packs??

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Posted By: peter ullman

when I was a kid growing up in northern nj...we used to go to teaneck...cedar lane...on saturday nights and we'd get rye bread at butterflake...sometimes ice cream at bischoffs and bb cards and comic books at the te-amo magazine stand on the corner...these were late 70's.
pete in mn

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Posted By: chris n

I would buy my cards in in 1970 and 1971 at a local 7-11 in Suffolk cty NY but could never finish the set because of the HI# cards. I finally started buying from Larry Fritsch from the Sporting News and was lucky to get my 1972-1973 Football and Baseball sets from him which I still have. I finally went back to buying packs up to 1979 for the excitement and challenge. I also remember going to card shows in NYC where for about $10 you could buy 2 boxes of 500 unsorted cards from Topps and one of the dealers would guarantee you a complete after you sorted your cards and traded your doubles back.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Hey Claude,

Wings were a series of trading cards by Topps, put out about 1952, I think. The cards depicted aviation subjects. Here's a link to a bunch that are on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Topps-Wings-Airplane-1952-1953-trading-cards-LOT-133_W0QQitemZ330063535521QQihZ014QQcategoryZ219QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Frank.

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Posted By: T206Collector

[Beckers on Main Street in Irvington, NY.]

Are you talking about Irvington-on-Hudson, NY?

That's where I live. The baseball card shop that had been there for many years just closed down because the guy retired. Across the street from him is a new game shop, which sells all sorts of stuff including cards.

If I have anything to do about it, my kids will be trading cards on Main Street in Irvington for years to come.

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Posted By: Judson Hamlin

I went to that old card shop not too long ago- had some 50's cards, and looked neat. My wife and I were on our way to the now closed Solera, so I didn't have time to really enjoy it, though.
BTW- What happened to Solera?

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Posted By: T206Collector

...was purchased by the people that run River City Grille at the top of Main Street. They're opening (or have already opened) a new restaurant in that site. I forget what they serve, but I have been meaning to explore it since River City Grille is very good.

What a small world that tiny little village of Irvington should get mentioned on this board for vintage baseball cards!

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Posted By: bob donaldson

Symmnes Mini Mart aka "The Little Store" in Arlington MA, about 150 yards from my house. Bought my first pack in 1967 at age 5, Topps Boston Red Sox Stickers. Moved at the end of 1967 to the other side of the street. Now 100 yards from the store and I could go by myself as I did not have to cross the street. Every Wednesday I walked with my best friend Joey to spend my allowance (10 cents) on cards. Bought thousands of cards; BB, FB, Hockey even some Baseket Ball overthe next 5 years. Most of them I still have, except for my dups which I've traded.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

corner of Lexington and 84th.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Adam- 84th and Lex is a long way from California- did you bicycle it?

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I bought new packs of cards at a Citgo gas station/convenience store in Mahwah, NJ from 1977 until about 1983, when I stopped collecting for the first time. I also used to bring my cards there and trade with one of the gas station attendants, who was also a collector.

I bought vintage cards from a card shop in Ridgewood, NJ called Dollars and Sense; the owner used to put T206s and 51 Bowmans in a shoe box for me and I could buy them for (if I remember) a quarter a Bowman, and .50 or a dollar per T206. Most of the cards were pretty beat up, but I'd go with my allowance once a week or so and come home with a fistful of cards.

My grandfather was a huge baseball fan, and he would sit and tell me stories about players from the early part of the century. I'd then go through the shoebox in Dollars and Sense and pick out players whose names I remembered from my grandfather's stories. Then I'd save the cards up in a big pile, and when he came over, I'd show them to him and he'd look at each guy wistfully and tell more stories.

Baseball cards have always been about stories for me. I still have most of the cards.

-Al

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I was bred and born in Manhattan. Lived at 84th and Madison until 2/4/1977 when my parents ripped me away from my beloved Yankees and took me to an alien place. I wrote a song about it:

Come and listen to a story about a kid New York City bred
Parents wanted warm weather and a new start instead,
Had a midlife crisis and yanked him out of school,
Tore across the country like a pair of silly fools.

Moved to LA, that is, bought a convertible and a business.

Well the first thing you know the Yanks win two straight,
Had to play the Dodgers; a twist of ugly fate.
They thought "Californy is the place you ought to be"
Sucked being a Yankee so near to Beverly.

Hills, that is. Country homes, swimmin pools, Dodgers fans.

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Posted By: Steve Cook

I bought my first packs in Torrance, California in 1959 (6th series I remember). I had several venues within an easy bike ride of my house: a liquor store, a bike shop with a candy counter, a hobby store, a supermarket and an open air produce market. All were in the vicinity of Artesia and Hawthorne Blvds, Alondra and Yukon Avenues (near El Camino College). All stores are now gone replaced by apartments and a freeway interchange. I never spent more than 25 cents at a time because that was about the limit of what I could save before it started burning a hole in my pocket. Often it was only a dime that made the bike ride worthwhile. I started with the 6th series of 1959 and before long had quickly accumulated at least 3 or 4 of every card of series 6 and 7 before I started trading all over the neighborhood for the first 5 series. It took me until next baseball season to complete the 1959 set. by then I was off and away on the 1960 issue in the same way: 5 cents, 10 cents and 25 cents at a time. The rest is history.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Adam- leaving the big city for Southern Cal is blasphemy! Well, my brother moved to Agoura Hills, so you are not alone.

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Posted By: MINE'S MINT

I was born in Pasadena, CA. in 1983.. my father opened a card shop when i was 5 or 6 and i basically grew up working for baseball cards.. of course i opened my share of upper deck, donerus, fleer and so on as a kid (most of which i used for getting autographs).. but vintage baseball has always been my passion..

Believe it or not my favorite player to collect in my "early years" was "Moose" Skowron.. and the first set i ever assembled was 58 topps.. i remember getting the strangest looks as a kid when i was working on 33 Goudeys.. (the dealers must have thought that i was from another planet or something).. and im almost certain that i purchased my first Cobb at the age of 9.. recieved my first t206 and t205 at age 7.. and traded for my first T3 at age 13 (traded a 54 topps Ted Williams and $25.00 for a beautiful Coveleski).. and the list goes on..

this is a great thread.. the nostalgia reminds me of the similiar child hood stories my father has shared with me in the past.. i know my hobby experiences dont exactly send you guys down memory lane but they are mine just the same.. and so far ive enjoyed every second of it..

psa/dna authenticated signature -> Richard M.

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Posted By: John H.

This really IS a great thread. I don't have any real childhood baseball card collecting memories as hockey cards are king here in the Great White North, but I sure have enjoyed reading all of your posts. I did have a 1964 Willie Kirkland Topps card for the longest time. That's the only baseball card that I specifically remember owning in my youth.

Even though I was a huge sports fan, the only card sets I collected as a kid were 1970 and 1971 O Pee Chee Canadian Football League sets and the 1971-72 O Pee Chee hockey set. I don't remember actually buying the football cards but I know I had them and the hockey set cost me about 50 cents to build as I was a pretty shrewd trader..."You want my extra Phil Goyette? Give me all your traders!" I bought those packs at Bigelow's Pharmacy in Winnipeg.

For some reason, I was more drawn to oddball stuff like 1970-71 Esso NHL Power Players stamps, which were similar to the 1972 Sunoco NFL stamps in the US. Buy a minimum of $3 worth of gas, get player stamp packets. Dad brought home my first three packs of Power Players one Saturday afternoon while I was watching Bugs Bunny. I remember that Gerry Cheevers was in one of them. Another time I was playing ball hockey on my driveway with some friends when dad drove up and handed me seven packs. Only one pack was a duplicate so I got six different packets and I vividly remember Dave Keon - a great profile shot of him sporting his new longer mod hair style - being in one of those packs. I mention that only one pack was a duplicate since similar packs seemed to often be grouped together and, unlike regular card packs, all six players in a perforated packet always came together. I remember the gas station giving me nine packs when my dad bought me the deluxe collector album and eight of them were the identical Jim Pappin pack. That was disappointing! I still have that completed album, with the dust jacket, in beautiful condition.

Wonderful memories!

John

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Posted By: trademup

Drexel Hill, Pa.
Two main stores: Clearfield Phcy and "Poison" @ State and Cornell aves.
Kept the cards and tossed the gum down the storm drain!
Later @ Mackey's Phcy also in Drexel Hill. Later it became Tony and Rose's card store.
Got those dirty B&W bowmans in 1948 at age 9, followed by football.
Saved them
1949 was a great year as Bowman produced the "whitebacks"along with the regulkar backs. Musta got 100 Cliff Fannins!!!
My friend, Tom, gave me ten packs as a going away present to Mexico. I got a Clarence Maddern that I still treasure!
1950-54, also put the sets together.
That ratty company, Topps came in with oversized cards in 1952, after trying to peddle some stupid stand-ups the previous year! Jerks!
Put the cards in mom's attic until 1978 when I returned to collecting. Nice start; but she threw all my 1949 dupes away (at least 10 Satchmo Paiges).

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Posted By: Ken McMillan

At Staffords Dairy in Pekin, Illinois. It was 1969 and I was looking for the Ernie Banks card. have been a diehard Cub fan ever since that year. Maybe this will be the year for my cubbies.

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Posted By: Martin Neal

Two places, Mac's Five and Ten in Madison, North Carolina and my father's general store, Preston and Brother's, in Pine Hall, North Carolina. What a magical place for a child. The store was always busy as it supplied just about everything a farmers family would need from the U.S. mail to fertilizers to shoes. Near the front register, crammed between fruit stacked on crates was the entrance to a small 8' by 6' area surrounded by walnut display cases with sliding glass doors. This area was where all the candy was kept, and of course the boxes of Topps cards. Man, to have all those Mantles, Fords and Maris' back. They rarely made it past the trash can behind the counter (why wasn't there a team called the Rebels?) I did cherish the Dodgers though. Even though they were from New York, their name wasn't as offensive as the American League team from New York. Unfortunately, none of those cards survived to this day. Only the memories...