What was the salvation of the Prewar card hobby

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

1973 saw the release of the" Great American Baseball Card Flipping and Trading Bubblegum book" By Boyd and Harris.

I went through four copies of that book as a kid. The first one was left at a highway rest stop when I was 11. The next two literally fell apart from overuse and were cut up and sent to the players to be signed. The highlight was Gus Zernial writing back to explain just what the hell was going on in his 1952 Topps photo! I still have the last copy intact, but just barely.

I memorized every word. I think back to 9th grade typing class (on typewriters!)--a buddy would read a few words from a typical passage and I'd tell him who the player was. Still remember the only time I drew a blank--George Brunet.