Quote:
Originally Posted by Volod
Ok, Phil, you've tweaked my morbid curiosity. Were you a regular at the corner store at such a tender age, or were wax packs for some a reason a big seller with the customer base there?  |
Paul's Liquor in South Gate, CA was literally a 2-3 minute walk from my home. I don't know if it had a wide fanbase for sports cards, but it served my needs quite well. In 1970 as a nine-year-old I got paid 20 cents a week to bring in the trashcans and I'd take my earnings to purchase two packs of cards. It worked until I sought a raise to 25 cents a week whereupon I was fired. Two years later I became a paperboy for three years and that helped me purchase cards.
The only thing "unique" about Paul's was that it sold some cards a year later. I purchased my 1970 packs in 1971 and the 1971s in 1972. I still have a 1970 Clemente, the only card I left from my childhood. In 1974 a box of high series 1970 Topps Baseball appeared and we (my friend and I) purchased those packs until they disappeared. I had scant knowledge of "the hobby" at that time so having them was no big deal. They never had high series packs, that I remember as well.
Ah youth, I wished I knew then what I know now.
Phil aka Tere1071
upgrading my 1953 Bowman Color, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1975 Topps Baseball sets.
working to complete my 1970 and 1973 Topps Baseball sets