Memories of collecting 1933 Goudey in Ballcard Collector, 1970

[trdcrdkid]

In issue #50 of The Ballcard Collector (dated November 1970 but actually published in July of that year), the lead article was Elwood Scharf's detailed reminiscences of collecting the 1933 Goudey set as a schoolboy. He remembers how they would try to look through the wrapper to make sure they didn't get a card they already had (since there was only one card per pack), describes the timing of each of the 10 series of 24 cards, and remembers how nobody could ever find #106, despite rumors that some kid had one. I don't remember ever seeing this before, so I'm posting it for everybody's enjoyment.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

so cool! What a great find. Would love to talk to more "old timers" (how many are left?) who collected these as kids

[Jerry G]

Very cool! Just like Elwood, it's my favorite set, too. Thanks!

[ullmandds]

nice read...thx for posting.

[brianp-beme]

Great, detailed info on collecting the Goudey set at ground zero. He had quite the memory of when each series was issued.

I assume the 'Goudey remainders' sold by Fawcett were the 24 card sheets? Sounds intriguing. Is that where all of our Goudey sheets come from?

Thanks again David!

Brian

[LuckyLarry]

Thanks for posting!
Larry

[Stonepony]

Fun reading about people who lived it

[trdcrdkid]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

I assume the 'Goudey remainders' sold by Fawcett were the 24 card sheets? Sounds intriguing. Is that where all of our Goudey sheets come from?

"Fawcett" was John Fawcett, a professor of art at the University of Connecticut and a big collector of cards and other ephemera. In 1968 or 1969 he bought all the remaining Goudey material, including sheets, cards, samples, boxes, etc., from George Thompson, owner and longtime plant manager of the company, for $500. Fawcett was only interested in the Indian Gum material, and he sold the rest of it to interested people in the hobby, using the following flyer:

http://www1.coe.neu.edu/~dan/MF/the-sale.html



I assume that most if not all of the uncut Goudey sheets in the hobby come from this find. In the August 1, 1969 Card Collector's Bulletin, which I posted at the link below, Lionel Carter wrote about four uncut sheets of 1934 Goudeys that Donald J. McPherson had bought from Goodwin Goldfaden, but it's not clear whether Goldfaden got them from Fawcett or from someone else. The timing suggests that Goldfaden got them from Fawcett, but I'm not sure.

http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=218786

[brianp-beme]

Wow...thanks David. It sounds like this is where all the Library of Congress Goudey cards originated as well.

To me the late 60's to mid 70's was certainly the Golden era of vintage bb card collecting, where the hobby really got a burst of activity with new finds popping up all of the time.

Brian

[ls7plus]

Fascinating to hear about collecting the '33 Goudeys as they came out!

Thanks for posting,

Larry

[judsonhamlin]

realizing that the article was discussing 37 year old cards at the time makes it the equivalent of an article about 1979 Topps now. Somehow not the same...

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by judsonhamlin

realizing that the article was discussing 37 year old cards at the time makes it the equivalent of an article about 1979 Topps now. Somehow not the same...

I was just thinking the same thing as I read the first page.

[lampertb]

This kind of stuff is why I am into pre-war cards, period.

Great post!

[insidethewrapper]

My dad will be age 94 this year and he remembers that no one could get one number ( #106), they opened pack after pack trying to find that number. This article indicates he wasn't the only one to be looking for #106. He never realized that it was issued the next year.

[kvnkvnkvn]

Damn, animals been searching packs for decades...

[jason.1969]

I've been doing a lot of research on this set, and this article was GOLD to me. There is at least one detail from Scharf's recollection that is not accurate though--understandable since he was remembering the set 37 years after the fact!

Scharf places Sheet 7 in early July. However, this sheet reflected Bob Smith's July 31 move from the Reds to the Braves (card 185). Three other July transactions including Hornsby are reflected as well.

This ensures that Sheet 7 could not have been finalized until the beginning of August at the earliest. Allowing at least some time to print, cut, package, and distribute, I have to assume mid-August would be the very earliest these cards could have hit shelves.

Such a revision probably has a ripple effect to the actual release of Sheet 8 as well.

[Piratedogcardshows]

I truly love these looks into the hobbies past. Thanks for posted as always David.

[insidethewrapper]

How can a card (#106) be part of a set if it was issued the following year ? My dad now almost 97 years old , told me he was always missing certain #'s and always getting duplicates. When he returned from the war, he found out the cards had been throw out when he was gone.

[jason.1969]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

How can a card (#106) be part of a set if it was issued the following year ? My dad now almost 97 years old , told me he was always missing certain #'s and always getting duplicates. When he returned from the war, he found out the cards had been throw out when he was gone.

If the Lajoie used the standard 1933 design I'd count it, but I too tend to regard the "true" 1933 set as 239 cards.

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[rats60]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

If the Lajoie used the standard 1933 design I'd count it, but I too tend to regard the "true" 1933 set as 239 cards.

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It doesn't. It uses the 1934 Goudey design without the "Lou Gehrig Says" banner at the bottom. So, at best it is a hybrid design of 1933 & 1934.