Your first card-collecting memory

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Posted By: mark s.

we've been together for almost 50 years!

it was late in the fall of 1959 & i had been recently indoctorinated to the world of sports by virtue of the hometown dodgers' world series victory over the chicago white sox. one afternoon, as i was walking out of wally's pharmacy on fair oaks ave in altadena, ca, i noticed a small picture card resting, scuffed & beaten near the curb... it was a "trading" card of paul hornung. and altho i had NO idea whatsoever who this guy or his team was (the green bay packers?), i captured the card, the card captured my heart, and a lifelong bond was immediately forged!
before long i had discovered the la rams & was purchasing cello packs of 1959 topps football as often as my 10 cent weekly allowance permitted... which was once a week!

it was the following spring however, that i discovered my lasting passion and can remember buying one 1960 topps baseball wax pack for a nickel at wally's then walking up fair oaks to the corner store/soda fountain & spending the other nickel from my allowance on a wax pack of 1960 fleer all-time greats... 12 cards that entertained & educated me for an entire week while bridging the historical gap between babe ruth, ty cobb & cy young and willie mays, mickey mantle & sandy koufax! ahhh... those certainly WERE the days!

still have that '59 topps hornung & altho it would only grade poor to fair, it is safely stored in a card saver & treated like a treasure... as it's sentimental value to me belies it's collectible value (or lack thereof) to anyone else.
but, isn't that what collecting is really about?