Where were the cards for all those years?

[steve B]

Just like today there were people who threw away pretty much anything not immediately useful, and some who didn't. And nearly every variation in between.

What didn't happen as much was people buying stuff. Without the range of retail, or internet combined with yes, some leftover attitudes from the depression, there wasn't as much stuff to compete for any available storage space. Even furniture wasn't bought for price, but for value and it was expected to last a lifetime or more.

Lots of times stuff simply got stuffed in a box and stored.

When that stuff has less value than the memories, OR less than the time to look for it, it stays stored.
A bunch of stuff went to paper drives during WWII, or might have been burned for heat during the 30's (Just like Goudey did in the 60's)

A lot of stuff that survived started being found in the 70's and especially early 80's when the few dealers started placing wanted ads and some taking out bigger ads for buying trips.
Suddenly people could see that the box of cards might be worth some money. Most ads showed the Wagner and had a buy price of 1000+ . Even finding out T206s might be worth $1 each brought out a few collections. A stack of a hundred or two would cover a LOT of bills or maybe even a mortgage payment. (I knew a few people who had payments under a hundred in the late 70's, even with fairly high interest rates. )

Other sports took a few years to catch up. I bought a batch of Football, basketball and hockey 1970-76 in maybe 1986. Half sets or better of everything plus loads of extras including stars. I had to nag the dealer for a price, he kept saying " nah, you don't want that stuff it's worthless" Finally got a price of $20 and didn't even try to bargain, just bought it.

I also picked up a shoebox full of late 60's cards from one of Moms coworkers. Not as good, but not bad. One kid was pretty hard on the cards, the other kept them in great condition. - So 65-7 were creased, taped, and a few had beards or moustaches added while the 69-71 cards were really nice. Cheap, because she kept the kids favorite players(Mantle, Mays, probably a couple others.)

Someday, maybe in about 20+ years you can expect "finds" of late 80's stuff. What doesn't get tossed will survive stored simply because it's not worth the effort to drag it out of the attic/basement.

Steve B