What was the salvation of the Prewar card hobby

[jingram058]

Having been in and out of the hobby 4 times, I have never understood my 3rd return in the late 1980s, and now. Even in the late 80s, you could still buy a 33 Goudey Ruth for $250. I know, because I bought one. I thought it was a lot of money. Maybe I'm just and old fogey, but the thousands of dollars for that same Ruth seems unbelievable. I have never understood the Mickey Mantle phenomenon. But I guess his meteoric rise in value is similar to Lawrence Welk in the big bands. Out of Glenn Miller (who unfortunately disappeared over the English Channel), Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, who would believe that Lawrence Welk would wind up so insanely popular when all the others faded away?