The Macon Find

[Tsaiko]

First off, I’d like to thank Leon for hosting a grand central station for information about pre war baseball cards and of course all of the knowledgeable people here at net54baseball.

My grandmother gave me her baseball card collection when I was about ten and I’ve taken it out of my safety box at least once a decade to admire them. The last time I took them out it was in the 1990’s and there was no such thing as google. In 2009, I took them out again and it only took me about two google searches to find net54. When I first started reading net54 I was so naive that when I saw references to OJ’s, I thought people were collecting O. J. Simpson cards.
It’s been almost two years that I’ve been searching for information on her collection and I think I know everything there is to know about it. I’ve also learned a lot about the hobby in general.

I admit that I saw dollar signs after I received some initial feedback from people I told about the collection and had planned to cash the collection in and have some fun with the money – grandma would’ve wanted that.

So I sent a lot of the cards to an auction house, requesting that my grandmother be made prominent in the auction, so that she might gain some sort of recognition in the hobby. I sent pictures of her along with her bio and sat back to await word on the auction. Well, two or three auctions went by and none of her cards were in them and that’s when I learned an important lesson.
Auction houses can’t really afford to auction off anything that isn’t real nice or rare. My grandmother liked to handle her cards and none of her cards were in very good shape and weren’t worth any real money.
So I asked for her cards back and waved goodbye to my imaginary fortune. Once I had the cards back, I proceeded to scan them all, so I would have a digital record, and I realized that I felt a whole lot better keeping the cards. They are worth far more to me sentimentally than they are monetarily and maybe my heirs will feel the same way.
Imagine a pre teen girl keeping her cards until she is in her mid 60’s, then giving them away without any restrictions or advice on value, just love. That was my gram.

So, it’s been a lot of fun rubbing elbows with you guys, while I got to pretend to be a collector. I really have an education in something I never thought I would. I’ve also met some diverse characters that have shown me several sides of the hobby, so I feel like I’ve broadened my horizons during my brief run through these bases.

I wanted to honor my grandma and her collection the best way I could think of, so I built a website dedicated to her. It’s my first attempt at building a website and it’s rather simple, just 6 pages, but it does show her collection, which is it’s primary function. I need to rescan some of the cards and I will be adding more pictures and scans from her scrapbooks in the future, but I’m totally burnt out on cards right now. What’s done can be found here: www.themaconpeach.com Feedback welcome.
It’s been 50 years, almost to the day, that gram gave me her cards, so this is a real milestone for me. She had them for 50+ years and I’ve had them for 50 years. Hopefully they'll still be together in another 50.

A special thank you to the few people who helped me out, for your patience with me during my stay here, I really appreciate it.

Now back to my regular life, where the only thing I collect is dust….and the occasional taiko.

[mcadams]

Thanks so much for sharing. Your note and the website were fantastic. I grew up about an hour and half south of Macon and like to research some of the old Southern League teams. I especially enjoyed seeing your grandmother's newspaper clippings from the old Macon club. And the cards are great too- I can't believe the auction house didn't find a way to feature the collection in an intersting way. The collection and the story are both winners IMO.

-Michael

[Jay Wolt]

Nice read about your Grandmother & plenty of great cards, lots of Cobbs & I enjoyed looking through the Turkey Reds.
Thanks for sharing!

[joeadcock]

Great story, especially that females also loved to get into collecting cards.

Always love seeing a bunch of Cobbs together.

[Bilko G]

Great story and great website!!!

Thanks for sharing!!

[Northviewcats]

I loved visiting the sight that you set up for your grandma. I think it is amazing that the cards stayed in your family for over 100 years.

Thanks for sharing,

Joe

[B O'Brien]

Great story and staggering collection! She really took great care of her stuff. How did she store her things? Just by looking at the T206's it seems to be 1909 and 1910 heavy, with not as many from the later run. Did she have a smoker in the family that gave her the cards as they smoked? I am just curious as to how she went about build a collection of that size back in the day. I am also curious as to how 7 of the 8 T210 Series cards are there smattered in, but not a single Series 6 card.

I am shocked that whoever you used to try and sell it didn't take the time to work it into the sales.

That is a great looking site and works very well, be proud!!

Thanks for taking the time to learn and share with us,
Bob

[CW]

That's a great story and a very fitting tribute on your website (more fitting than any auction ever would've been).

I really liked this line:

"Imagine a pre teen girl keeping her cards until she is in her mid 60’s, then giving them away without any restrictions or advice on value, just love. That was my gram."

[Leon]

Hi Tsaiko
I remember when you joined and you were a bit apprehensive about it. I am glad you have hung out with us for as long as you have. I am especially appreciative of you sharing your grandmother's (and subsequently) your collection with us. I realize you are sort of here on a limited basis. That being said I hope you will give some thought to keeping her collection and maybe start to dabble in collecting some, yourself. By the recent thread about ages at which folks have started collecting vintage, there are several in the 50+ range. Whatever you decide to do I certainly wish you well in your future endeavors.....best regards

[jcmtiger]

A very nice collection.

Joe

[Kawika]

It's hard to believe that you couldn't get an AH to sell these cards but I would could consider it a bullet dodged, a blessing in disguise. A collection like this should stay in your family. Imagine the thrill of your descendants fifty or a hundred years from now when they see Gram's cards.

[cfc1909]

wonderful story and site-I also can't believe an auction house didn't sell these. That is a blessing-keep this collection intact.


thanks for sharing

[Mikehealer]

Great collection, thanks for sharing it. Don't know which auction house you were dealing with, but you chose the right one. I assume they are no longer in business turning down all those cards. 16 Cobbs, Magie a score of T3's unbelievable!!!

Again great cards and all together for 100 years, amazing.

[DixieBaseball]

Tsaiko,
I throughly enjoyed looking through your website and reading the story of The Macon Peach ! What a fantastic way to honor your grandmother !! She had good taste ! (Series 8 Southern Leaguer's + Old Mill Cab) - Well Done, Indeed.

[Joe_G.]

I greatly enjoyed your website. I don't collect 20th century cards but the storyline made it extremely interesting. Thank you for taking the time to pay tribute to your grandma in such a grand way.

[GrayGhost]

What a great collection and even better tribute to someone who was obviously a VERY Special lady!!!!

[thetruthisoutthere]

An absolutely wonderful story.

[sox1903wschamp]

Loved the story! Thank you for sharing some insight into your Grandmother and glad your family still has the collection.

[T206Collector]

you really have done your grandmother and her collection justice.... really great stuff... the kind that dreams are made of....

[Troy Kirk]

I also loved your story and your website. Nice to hear you decided to keep the cards, that's a great family collection.

[Tsaiko]

Thanks guys, it really warms my heart (and I'm sure my grandmother's too, where ever she is) that her collection and her spirit are being appreciated by people who share the same passion that she had so many years ago. It was my hope that this would be the case.

She really was an amazing lady and she really could play the game. I swear there's a picture somewhere of her in a three quarter length skirt swinging the bat, but I just can't find it.

I wish I knew more about cards when I was a kid. Then maybe I would've known what questions to ask her. She was so gentle and sweet that I can imagine someone conning her out of a Wagner or some such thing - just not a Cobb. It will forever remain a mystery as to what happened to her cards between the time she collected and the time she gave them to me. I think the fact that there were no Series 6's is a little weird, along with the fact that she had so few Macon players. Maybe she traded them for Cobbs? Her daughter, my Mom, passed away recently and after Probate I will have to go through everything and I know there are letters from my grandma around, though I doubt they were from her pre teen childhood. But if I uncover any more about her card collecting era, I will certainly add it.

I know her father worked for the railroad and brought her home cards from his cigarette packs. There were some Fish Series and Flags of All Nations cards also in her collection, but not very many. I believe that it was hit or miss as to what card would be in the packs during that time. On a few of the T206's, she stamped her initials on the back and there were a couple of cards with someone else's initials on the back, so maybe she traded. I get the feeling she was kind of possessive of her collection though, when she was a kid.

When she passed I wasn't close by, but my brother said that my Mom was going through the house uncovering valuables from behind paintings and inside books and throwing out anything she didn't recognize as valuable - like money or art - my grandma was an artist and got a degree in Art and Drama from Wesleyan -, so the imagination runs wild when thinking about what cards might have been "hiding".

Anyway, it is what it is.

Sure, I've thought about collecting, Leon, maybe completing some sets, but something owned by who knows who, just doesn't seem special now. Anything is possible I suppose, but I need a break right now. One of the reasons I had time to spend researching cards was I was simultaneously taking a break from work to care for my Mom and the card organization was what I did while passing excess time. I need to get back on track right now, but I will collect any FD stamped cards, if any are out there, so ok, I'm a collector ;-)

I'd really like to pass these on to my nephews, since I have no kids of my own, but I really fear they will just see money. I'm passing down my fathers trumpet to my oldest nephew who has chosen music as a career and is an up and coming trumpeter. He gets it as a high school graduation present next week as a matter of fact, all re plated. Both nephews may very well value the collection, as I like to think of them as being raised above the materialistic fray. We'll see.

I really meant what I said about being glad I still have these cards after the failed auction attempt. Before I was educated here, I had the fantasy of someone being interested in the collection as a whole for themselves, that would keep it intact. But I now know that there are all kinds of collectors, but probably no collection collectors. I had the fantasy of having my cake and eating it too, but that's unlikely to materialize. For now her site seems to have been a worthwhile endeavor and I'm glad that it's being appreciated.
===============================================
On an off topic coincidence, I recently had knee surgery and chose my surgeon because his profile said one of his hobbies was drumming. (I had narrowed it down to 4 top guys and that was the deciding factor.) It turns out that we both have a 1960's Ringo black pearl set and he told me that he collected old drums. I asked if he collected anything else and he said baseball cards. My Evers came back from PSA the day before my follow up appointment, so I brought it in. He looked at it and said, "Tinker Evers to Chance", and just stared at it----hello, Doc, my knee? Turns out he's from Chicago and a big Cubs fan and out of the blue said he was going to Chicago for the show.
Small world 'eh? Of course I gave him this sites address. Hi Doc, see ya in six weeks, bring me back something from the show ;-)

[teetwoohsix]

I also really enjoyed looking at the site and all of those amazing T206's (sooo many Cobb's !!! ) , it is wonderful. She sounds like she was a truly amazing lady, and it is nice to see you will be holding on to the cards too. It's the auction house that lost on this one, don't know which one it is but someone there dropped the ball, that's for sure.

Thanks for sharing the site and the story, I love hobby history and this is a part of it I'll never forget !!

Sincerely, Clayton

[T206.org]

Very-very cool!!

I've added a link to the T206 portion of the collection here:
http://www.t206.org/resources.php

[Tsaiko]

Clayton, I agree about the history, fascinating. In researching her collection I've been totally immersed in all aspects of the game from that era. There really is no end to studying this stuff. I plan on getting The T206 Collection: The Players & Their Stories and build a library from there.

Trae, I'm honored, thanks so much. I suppose now would be a good time to tell you that I've must have visited your site at least 100 times and it has been an invaluable source of information for me. Now to be a part of it is so VERY cool. Words can't do my appreciation justice.

[T206.org]

Thank you, kindly. My pleasure.

[benderbroeth]

i think i am one of many who are genuinly glad you did not sell to the auction house, i got a signed photo of ted williams as a 30th birthday gift from someone i consider almost a father to me, he passed away a few years back, the framed pic means more to me than the money i would ever net from a sale.

[geor952]

Fantastic web site and a wonderful way to honor Grandma! She will live on in cyber space. Thank you very much for sharing this with all of us!

[benderbroeth]

yeah thanks so much for sharing!!!

[Tsaiko]

I've added a few pictures of my grandmother and me with my family and some of her scrap book clippings. Not much and more to come, but look at her arms! No wonder she was such a good ball player. And she looks a little like Babe Ruth, doesn't she?
Click on the individual photos for the captions.

Thanks,

[John V]

Great story.

[Ladder7]

You've become rich and you got to keep the cards too. You've done very well and great tribute site.

[iggyman]

This thread definitely gets my vote for "Net54 all-time favorite thread." We have a winner! Tell him what he's won Leon!

Excuse me while I get teary eye but keeping this collection together in memory of your grandmother is just beyond incredible. Some bidder like myself, would have purchased the lots (which would probably have been grouped together). I'd have kept what I needed and sold the rest off; not really caring where (or how) they came from. End of story and end of collection, plus the money gained would have been gone by now. Yet, like a Walt Disney fairy tale, this moment in time memory is still so alive.

Lovely Day...

[JohnP0621]

This story and tribute is worth more than any auction house could have made for you. I can tell how much you loved your Grandmother by yor tribute to her and I am sure that you would have regreted it for a long time had you sold her(your) cards. Thanks for sharing her story with us. I enjoy stories like this as much as I like collecting the cards. Do any of the cards have rare backs and do you have photos of them posted. I love to see the backs as much as the fronts.

Thanks again
John Perrotta

[Tsaiko]

Thank you so much for your appreciation guys, it makes the whole process worthwhile - really!
As for the backs, I painstakingly scanned each and every back and gave them a name that can only be associated with it's front. As far as I can tell, there are no rare backs and the T206's are all Piedmont 150 or 350.

Maybe it only exists in my mind, but I swear there is a picture of gram holding a bat somewhere and I continue going through family albums looking for it. My mom recently passed and there's literally a ton of papers to go through, so I keep hoping for more to come.

But really, how about those arms

Thanks again,

[T206Collector]

For fun, I would consider getting some of the Cobbs graded by SGC, with the phrase "Macon Peach Collection" on the slip. They would certainly do that for you.

[Tsaiko]

Originally Posted by T206Collector

For fun, I would consider getting some of the Cobbs graded by SGC, with the phrase "Macon Peach Collection" on the slip. They would certainly do that for you.

At some point, a few months ago, I emailed both SGC and PSA and asked them to guesstimate how much grading all the cards would cost and also asked them about a possible collection designation, but neither of them responded.

I chalked it up to me not having very much experience in these matters and haven't thought about it since. Probably because I know it would cost a bunch and I'd really like the whole collection graded and designated if possible.

[Section103]

I absolutely LOVE that T210 Balenti (Savannah). Its a wonderful collection.

[Tsaiko]

Before anyone thinks this is a shameful excuse to get more visitors to my grandma's site, I confess, it is.

My grandma received her college degree in drama and art and we have many wall hangings of her art, but I just found a lot of her sketches and small drawings and guess what, some were of baseball players, so I added them to her front page. You can enlarge them from the site, so that's why I'd ask for a visit rather than posting them here.
Are these drawings derived from cards, some other media or from my grandma's imagination. She had lots of other drawings and sketches, but these were the only one's with a baseball theme.
If these are sketches of cards, can anybody tell me who they might be and what series they may have come from?
Thanks as always.

[Jason Carota]

The first image reminds me of Johnny Evers.

Quite an amazing collection your Grandmother had. I could spend hours viewing the T210's. Thanks for sharing.

[dstraate]

That's an incredible collection. If you or anyone in your family ever gets the collecting bug, you'll have a starting point that's better than the ending point for 99% of collectors. Thanks for sharing.

[ethicsprof]

a wonderful story.
your heart for your grandmother and your own caring articulation of what
she offered you and now what you offer us is most moving.
thank you for bringing us into the best of what this hobby offers.

all the best,
barry

[Tsaiko]

Thanks so much guys. Yea Jason, now that you mention it, I can see that being Evers. She seemed to like Evers, so possibly. I don't know of any card with that pose though, so I'll chalk it up to my grandma's imagination.
Thanks for the kind words David and Barry. Oh, and Rich V, sorry I missed your response before, I love all those southern minor league cards.

[t206hound]

Originally Posted by Tsaiko

Thanks so much guys. Yea Jason, now that you mention it, I can see that being Evers. She seemed to like Evers, so possibly. I don't know of any card with that pose though, so I'll chalk it up to my grandma's imagination.
Thanks for the kind words David and Barry. Oh, and Rich V, sorry I missed your response before, I love all those southern minor league cards.

The drawing is similar to a Conlin photo:
http://www.theconloncollection.com/p...y-evers-2.html

[Tsaiko]

Scary close, thanks t206hound. I notice that the art work seems to have a belt buckle on the side, were any players known to wear their belts like that?
Maybe a player that also played stand up bass A lot of guitar players wear their belts like that to avoid scratches.

Originally Posted by t206hound

The drawing is similar to a Conlin photo:
http://www.theconloncollection.com/p...y-evers-2.html

[campyfan39]

WOW!
What an amzing collection. Thanks for sharing
I sure wish my parents and grandparents cards would have survived!

p.s. the auction houses are fools, looks like an incredible collection to me.

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by t206hound

The drawing is similar to a Conlin photo:
http://www.theconloncollection.com/p...y-evers-2.html

Not to hijack this thread as I love the collection and the website. but........

It seems I have seen this picture a few times but never noticed the size of that baseball bat in his hands before. Dang, Is that a fence post or something? That thing is huge!

[JeremyW]

I think it was common for players to wear their belt buckle to the side. When sliding, they didn't want any sharp metal objects near vulnerable spots.

[Tsaiko]

Originally Posted by campyfan39

WOW!
What an amzing collection. Thanks for sharing
I sure wish my parents and grandparents cards would have survived!

p.s. the auction houses are fools, looks like an incredible collection to me.

Thanks Chris, the sharing of this collection and the responses here, make keeping the collection more than worthwhile.

Not to hijack this thread as I love the collection and the website. but........

It seems I have seen this picture a few times but never noticed the size of that baseball bat in his hands before. Dang, Is that a fence post or something? That thing is huge!

Well Andrew, in that picture, Evers looks like he might have moonlighted for the Chicago mafia.

I think it was common for players to wear their belt buckle to the side. When sliding, they didn't want any sharp metal objects near vulnerable spots.

Jeremy, can you point me to any game photos with players wearing their belts like that? Thanks.

[JeremyW]

Here are a couple photos of Cobb & Chase. Both with their belt buckles to the side. If you have a chance, checkout a website called "Baseball Fever" you'll find several interesting photos. I really like your Macon Peach website, by the way.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by T206.org

Very-very cool!!

I've added a link to the T206 portion of the collection here:
http://www.t206.org/resources.php

Trae, I just clicked on that 'T206 Plank' link and it didn't work. Also, thanks for including a link to my site.