The Trader Speaks - 1st issue Nov 1968

[Rob D.]

How appropriate (well, to me, at least) that Nick Edson makes a post in a thread about The Trader Speaks. Of the more than 150 issues of TTS that I own, more than half of them once belonged to Nick and have his mailing stamp on the back cover.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Rob D.

How appropriate (well, to me, at least) that Nick Edson makes a post in a thread about The Trader Speaks. Of the more than 150 issues of TTS that I own, more than half of them once belonged to Nick and have his mailing stamp on the back cover.

That's very cool....Glad to see some hobby veterans hanging around virtually....It's a different world today.

[Kalineman]

Thanks, Rob. Those were the days when we went to shows with want lists and did a huge amount of trading. Truth be told, that collecting world still exists today - we just don't hear as much about it. We didn't use the word 'networking' in the early days of shows, but at our tables we talked with the likes of John Stommen for hours on end, traded cards and ended up having dinner together. Thanks to Leon for having a regular hobby 'place' to go every day.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Kalineman

Thanks, Rob. Those were the days when we went to shows with want lists and did a huge amount of trading. Truth be told, that collecting world still exists today - we just don't hear as much about it. We didn't use the word 'networking' in the early days of shows, but at our tables we talked with the likes of John Stommen for hours on end, traded cards and ended up having dinner together. Thanks to Leon for having a regular hobby 'place' to go every day.

Nick, you are very welcome. It's always an honor and priviledge when I get to hang around with hobby veterans. I am a very lucky person in that I have only been collecting around 15 yrs (again since adulthood) and have been fortunate to meet and converse with some of the great collectors of yesteryear. I must have spent at least 2 hours speaking with John Rumeriez at the National as I hadn't seen him in a few years. And then a few steps over I saw my pal Kit Young whom I have a ton of respect for. We had a nice long chat. I consider him to be a wonderful person, not perfect as no one is, but a truly wonderful guy. It's a great hobby and one of the main reasons is the people in it. Heck, setting up with Richard Masson and my partner, Scott...with ole Jay Miller hanging around, isn't all bad either. The "people" in the hobby are one of my great enjoyments. take care now (sorry to ramble a little)

[E93]

Jay,
Thanks for posting that.

Nick,
Thank you for sharing some of your experience here. I hope you do more so.
JimB

[tbob]

If these guys were alive today (I know Lionel still is) and posted on this board, they would be probably be slammed by a few for "swimming in the sea of mediocrity" in their collections.
Thanks so much for posting TTS and other items which show what the hobby was, and to an extent, is still all about.
I've wondered before if the hobby was going to die out when the pre-war collectors got old and died off or lost interest, but then I found this and the predecessor Full Count board and was encouraged to see so many young collectors who love the history and tradition of baseball and the cards.
Nice thread Leon

[Leon]

Originally Posted by tbob

If these guys were alive today (I know Lionel still is) and posted on this board, they would be probably be slammed by a few for "swimming in the sea of mediocrity" in their collections.
Thanks so much for posting TTS and other items which show what the hobby was, and to an extent, is still all about.
I've wondered before if the hobby was going to die out when the pre-war collectors got old and died off or lost interest, but then I found this and the predecessor Full Count board and was encouraged to see so many young collectors who love the history and tradition of baseball and the cards.
Nice thread Leon

Hey Bob
We have the same sentiments. One small unfortunate clarification is that Lionel passed away about a year or so ago....regards

[Tim Zwick]

This thread sure stirs up a lot of old memories for me also. Like Nick, I was a teenager in the early 70's growing up in Michigan and buying cards from Jim Elder, Gar Miller, Bruce Yeko, Woody Gelman, Merv Williams, etc. through the mail. I was also lucky enough to attend and set up at Detroit area shows starting in 1972/73. Meeting Ernie Harwell at my table during one of the old Troy Hilton shows and talking with him for quite some time about his collection and baseball was priceless (he even bought a couple of old scorecards.) It just couldn't get any better than that for a young country hick teenager. John Stommen was a great guy, friend and mentor of mine who along with Dan Dischley, Bob Jasperson, Irv Lerner & Charlie Brooks helped pave the way for the acceptance of collecting junkies like us and our addiction to these little pieces of cardboard with their various publications.

Leon brings up John Rumeriez. He always had tons of cards, knowledge and seemed to be set up at every show. He was a member of the legendary group (at least to me) of Detroit area hobby pioneers that included Frank Nagy, Dick Reuss, Ed Lotz, Ed Budnick, Jay Barry, Charlie Conlon, Lloyd Toerpe, The Dehem Bros. and many more. I know they all had an influence on my love of collecting and appreciate the fact that I was able to make their acquaintance and do some deals with most along the way.

Thanks Leon & crew for providing a landing pad for some of the hobby dinosaurs to frequent.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by Rob D.

How appropriate (well, to me, at least) that Nick Edson makes a post in a thread about The Trader Speaks. Of the more than 150 issues of TTS that I own, more than half of them once belonged to Nick and have his mailing stamp on the back cover.

I have some of Nick's too and a whole lot of Dan McKee's old TTS. It would be great if we could get a hobby archive of old zines scanned up and hosted somewhere. Sports Scoop, Card Collectors Bulletin, TTS etc.Also, if you go to www.oldbaseball.com and click on the LIBRARY link, George Vrechek (and some others) have a number of articles about the old pubs and collectors on there. It's well worth a look.

I have always wished for a hobby version of SABR as concerns the history of the cards and pubs and collectors themselves. Not sure enough people are interested in that aspect of it but I know there are a dozen or two hardcore hobby history guys that would probably be intrigued.

[Oldtix]

Very interesting stuff! Dave, I followed the link over to OLDBASEBALLCARDS and greatly enjoyed the article on Hobby Publication History. The article ran back in 2004 and 2005.

The author George Vrechek cites a December 1935 Jefferson Burdick article in Hobbies Magazine as earliest mention of baseball card collecting.

Is this still believed to be accurate? If so, I have some news that may be our hobby's "Da Vinci Code"...

[Rich Klein]

*IS to become a SABR sub-committee of our own; of course; that means joining SABR, but if we can convince them that this is a worthy subject, I can find out, or have Tom Holford (who is one of the 16 founding members of SABR and has been active on this board) find out how we can do this. Great idea; and I think instead of being a hobby version of SABR; we can become a part of and adjunct to SABR.

Rich

I have always wished for a hobby version of SABR as concerns the history of the cards and pubs and collectors themselves. Not sure enough people are interested in that aspect of it but I know there are a dozen or two hardcore hobby history guys that would probably be intrigued.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Leon]

I was speaking with my good friend Lyman Hardeman of Oldcardboard Magazine yesterday, concerning some things in this thread. We were talking about archives etc...and he reminded me that there are over 800 articles posted on their website right now....Before we get going too hard on archiving we should probably see what has been done so far and then maybe just add to it? I know Lyman is a great sport about this stuff so thought I would mention it..(this is under "articles" on their homepage)..regards

http://www.oldcardboard.com/ref/BBC-...earchIndex.asp

[Oldtix]

I've been a SABR member since 1987; we just had an inaugural Columbus chapter meeting last Saturday and are just now defining our objectives. At the initial meeting, about 35 people showed up and I got the impression that most are collectors of artifacts and memorabilia, not just stats. I'll see if there's interest at our next meeting.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Leon

he reminded me that there are over 800 articles posted on their website right now....

From my experience what he has up are the bibliographies of the articles, not the actual articles themselves.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Matt

From my experience what he has up are the bibliographies of the articles, not the actual articles themselves.

I had only clicked on the OldCardboard articles that are indexed and they DO have the articles HOWEVER you are absolutely correct otherwise. So, we still have some work to do there/here..Thanks for the clarification Matt...

[ChrisStufflestreet]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

I have always wished for a hobby version of SABR as concerns the history of the cards and pubs and collectors themselves. Not sure enough people are interested in that aspect of it but I know there are a dozen or two hardcore hobby history guys that would probably be intrigued.

And you can add my name to that list, Rich.

My mid 80s issues of Baseball Hobby News (almost all of which have Nick Edson articles in them) sit right next to my computer desk. They're great resources and I'm always thirsty for more...

[Rich Klein]

We might be seeing a lot more of this stuff through the miracle of scanning in the near future.


Rich

[Rich Klein]

But there is a BB Card group on SABR now BTW

Rich

[Jaybird]

Originally Posted by ChrisStufflestreet

And you can add my name to that list, Rich.

+1

[joeadcock]

Interesting James T. Elder who was selling much of the prewar stuff back in 1968, adress listed is right down the road from me, maybe 30 minutes. Seeing the area now, in 1968, must have been a desolate area to live. Curious how he would have come across his cards.

Anyone know?