How hard was it to find new Topps series in 1950s, '60s and early '70s?

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You certainly had to work at keeping up with Topps' new series in the 50s and 60s. I began collecting in 1957 in Warrington, a suburb of Pensacola, Fla., and rode my bike all around town to find the latest series. I found only one store that had the tough 4th series and could only afford a few packs, so wound up trading the chemicals in my chemistry set to fill in the gaps when we moved out into the country that winter. All series of 58s were rather easy to find in a couple of stores near my elementary school, but the next year when I was in junior high I had to wait until my mother drove into town every other week to feed my appetite for cards. She'd stop at stores along the way until I'd found the latest series, and, thanks to having nothing to spend my allowance on out in the country, I quickly learned to save up enough for a full box (24 5-cent packs, $1.20) when I found the series I wanted. You usually got most, if not all, of the cards in a series in a box, but I remember one day in 1959 when the box I purchased included only 20-30 different cards (I recall having 15 Bob Giallombardos). By 1963, I'd tired of the biweekly quests, so I bought sets by mail from Card Collectors Co., Bruce Yeko's Wholesale Cards or Gordon B. Taylor. I resumed collecting piecemeal in 1967 when I was in college in Winter Park, Fla., and had a car to scour the Orlando area for the latest series. I continued the quest until 1973 when Topps issued all the series at once in Boston, where I moved after college. In short, finding the tough series cards (including football issues) was a challenge, but one I look back on fondly.
Bob Richardson