Vintage Cards/Material at Smithsonian?

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Posted By: Joann

I am going to Wash DC tomorrow - day trip only - and have a few hours to kill before my return flight. The mall is only a few subway stops from the airport so I thought I'd see what the Smithsonian has in terms of baseball history, cards, memorabilia, etc

I can't seem to find anything online at all - either they don't have anything or I'm just not doing the right searches.

Can anyone here point me toward any displays, etc, for vintage baseball?

Thanks,

J

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Posted By: barrysloate

I know the Smithsonian has a virtually complete collection of American Coins and Stamps, but I don't know about cards. I think there are baseball artifacts though at the Library of Congress.

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Posted By: leon

They are over on the left....

inserted smiley face

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Posted By: Joann

lolol. Thanks Leon - I'll be sure to remember to bear left once I get to the Smithsonian. Probably end up in the reflecting pond or tidal pool or something!

I'm checking the loc.gov web site - not sure I can throw that one together in the few hours I have. They require a registration card for us of almost any material. I might just pop in though and check it out for next time.

J

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Posted By: Jeff O

I was in DC this Spring and toured a number of the different Smithsonian museums... didn't see any baseball related stuff at all.

Jeff

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Posted By: PaulPaulPaul

I went to the Library of Congress a couple of years ago. They have a few very interesting items that I reported here on the board -- an 1888 Chicago team cabinet on a green mount that I've never seen, and a few others that I now can't remember. But most of the cards they have are inaccessible. They have an enormous N172 collection, but they will not let you see it. It is available on line, and their view is that if you can see it on-line, there's no reason for you to see it in person.

To see the few things they let you see, you need to sign up for a Library of Congress library card. The process takes about 30 minutes or so. You can do that on site. You then need to figure out exact which "collection room" you need to go to. I can't remember how I figured that out. Maybe there was an index, or a helpful person. I just don't remember.