These types of posts fascinate me. I enjoy reading/hearing about how folks got to where they are, in terms of what they collect.
My collecting started in the 80s. Junk wax galore. But I read about baseball constantly. I don't recall price guides going back further than 1948 Bowman, so I thought those were the oldest cards, until I learned about the T206 Wagner in around 1991 or so (I think I still have a clipping from our local newspaper talking about Gretzky and McNall buying their famous Wagner). Still, I always dreamed of owning a 1951 Topps RB Berra and a 1948 Bowman Spahn.
When I returned to collecting in the early 2000s, I started collecting 1948 Bowman and 1951 Topps RB. Gar Miller helped me build those sets, and he also introduced me to early T & E cards. To think that nearly 100 year old cards could be affordable blew my mind. About the same time, I started reading what I would call 'adult non-fiction' baseball books. That really brought baseball to life for me, and my collecting has basically followed what I read. Read a Jackie Robinson bio, buy a Robinson card. Read about Joe DiMaggio, buy a Joe DiMaggio.
Eventually I read Lawrence Ritter's Glory of their Times, found out about George Gibson, and the rest is kind of history. My collection now is mostly focused on Gibson, but in the past two years or so, I have branched out and started to pick up pre-war cards of other Canadian guys. Almost like a Canadian type card collection, really, though I am also working on a C46 Toronto team set.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone
Richard.