Hobby history: Collector directories, 1937-38 and 1940

[Leon]

Thanks for posting those, David. They are always fun to read.

[barrysloate]

Burdick distinguishes dealers from collectors in his address lists. Do you mean to say there were actually baseball card dealers in 1937? Could they make a living? And how many customers could they have had? I assume all of them had day jobs, and cards were a second income/hobby.

[trdcrdkid]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Burdick distinguishes dealers from collectors in his address lists. Do you mean to say there were actually baseball card dealers in 1937? Could they make a living? And how many customers could they have had? I assume all of them had day jobs, and cards were a second income/hobby.

Some of them were general ephemera dealers, or maybe booksellers who also sold ephemera. Walter Corson did that for a while in the late 40s (see my profile of him, link in the index). Some of them might have been card collectors with day jobs who also did some buying and selling on the side, though I don’t know if that would have been true yet in 1937. Even when there were full time dealers starting in the 1950s, like Sam Rosen and Gordon Taylor (see my post on “Card dealers of the 1950s”), they weren’t just baseball card dealers; they dealt in all types of collectible cards, though baseball cards were the most popular types.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Some of them were general ephemera dealers, or maybe booksellers who also sold ephemera. Walter Corson did that for a while in the late 40s (see my profile of him, link in the index). Some of them might have been card collectors with day jobs who also did some buying and selling on the side, though I don’t know if that would have been true yet in 1937. Even when there were full time dealers starting in the 1950s, like Sam Rosen and Gordon Taylor (see my post on “Card dealers of the 1950s”), they weren’t just baseball card dealers; they dealt in all types of collectible cards, though baseball cards were the most popular types.

As you know Wagner and Burdick were advertising back in the Hobbies Magazine, starting in 1935. I would guess, even for the best dealers of the day, they had to have day jobs to pay their bills. It's not a lot different than many of the major league players from the 1800s to early 1900s. Most had jobs in the off season. If I recall even Matty pumped gas at one time.

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Leon

As you know Wagner and Burdick were advertising back in the Hobbies Magazine, starting in 1935. I would guess, even for the best dealers of the day, they had to have day jobs to pay their bills. It's not a lot different than many of the major league players from the 1800s to early 1900s. Most had jobs in the off season. If I recall even Matty pumped gas at one time.

I think many/most MLB players, except for the major stars, had off-season jobs well into the 1950's, or even later.

[oldjudge]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Burdick distinguishes dealers from collectors in his address lists. Do you mean to say there were actually baseball card dealers in 1937? Could they make a living? And how many customers could they have had? I assume all of them had day jobs, and cards were a second income/hobby.

Only those who also ran chat boards

[Leon]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Only those who also ran chat boards

I had a day job forever. I like this one better. It's fun.

[oldjudge]

Just kidding. I would bet that the dealers were also collectors and that they used their selling to finance the additions to their collections, like so many board members do today.

[chalupacollects]

Would love to go knock on some of those doors and ask politely to poke around those attics!

[BleedinBlue]

Originally Posted by chalupacollects

Would love to go knock on some of those doors and ask politely to poke around those attics!

+1

First thing I did was scan the list for addresses in New England. Found one.
Tempting. The home at this address is old enough to have an attic full of treasures.