Thank You Everybody
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.
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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 ;-)
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