Card Collector's Company, Franklin Sq. NY

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by jerrys

Don Lepore, who actually ran the CCC operations for Woody Gelman, invited me to see the operation at the site one time. It was as one would expect, women seated at tables in front of mountains of cards filling orders. After the fire Don conducted business from an office on the main street in the village of Franklin Square, NY.

Jerry, do you recall where that site actually was?

[jerrys]

Hi Dave,

No don't remember the name of the street but I'm pretty sure it was off Franklin Avenue. Franklin Avenue is the main road that is an extension of New Hyde Park Road; it runs south starting at Hempstead Turnpike.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by jerrys

Hi Dave,

No don't remember the name of the street but I'm pretty sure it was off Franklin Avenue. Franklin Avenue is the main road that is an extension of New Hyde Park Road; it runs south starting at Hempstead Turnpike.

Thanks Jerry! I know that area quite well, old stomping grounds and such but had no idea at the time.

[jerrys]

Dave, I believe you live east of FS. If you have occasion to be in the neighborhood, a visit to the FS Historical Society may answer your question.

[ocjack]

Not to revive an old thread, but I noticed comments about the fire at the CCC warehouse while re-reading this thread. This is a copy of the first page of their issue #28 dated January 1976 that talks about the fire and how they will deal with damaged cards. Thought some would find it of interest. (If you want to see prices - and need a good cry -- let me know and I'll copy some of the interior pages.)

[Tere1071]

In the late 1970s, Mark Christensen, who started a mail-order business, then a store called Sports Nostalgia Shop purchased a huge amount of cards from Richard Gelman. They ranged from 1957-1975. The cards were broken down into lots ranging from 50 different to 400 different. Among all of those cards, there were some that smelled of smoke while others had an interesting warpage. On the other hand, there were many cards that were close to mint; the 400 card lots were great starter sets.

[Mark17]

I remember getting a good sized lot of 1965 high numbers from them and those cards were mint, apparently right out of vending. They had some concave curvature to them which wasn't a problem, just noticeable. The group had 25-30 Hunter rookies which I then sold to Chandy Greenholt.

Back then, a conversation would go like this:
"What condition are the cards?"
"Mint."
Are the corners sharp with no creases?"
"They came directly from Gelman."
"OK, I hear you. That means Mint."