Childhood baseball card memories.

[commishbob]

Was living on Long Island in the summer of '58 and a kid in my neighborhood, a girl, had a stack of Topps cards. I'd never seen anything so cool. I can't remember which cards she had but I remember how colorful they were. I don't think I had any cards of my own until the next spring and I got a few packs in my Easter basket. I got an Albie Pearson and Andy Pafko whose name I recognized from listening to the World Series the previous year on the radio. Those Easter packs hooked me.

The next year I was an active collector. I spent what money I had on '60 Topps cello packs at EJ Korvettes and pestered my folks into buying me more. My uncle's pharmacy in Jersey stocked cards and once he found out I was collecting them he became my 'supplier' and I was able to put together full sets through the early 60s.

I collected through high school, 1969 was my last year to spend time collecting and I passed my collection off to my younger brothers and their friends. No regrets.

I continued to buy a pack or so each year when I came across them just to see what Topps was doing.

[charlietheexterminator]

It was the late 1960’s in Bushwick, Brooklyn, everyone had baseball cards. We all played games like pitching them against the wall and flipping them to match colors, great memories. I would take my shoe shine box, go out and earn a few bucks and buy more cards, Spalding rubber balls and stick ball bats. Just in case no one told you, I don’t shine shoes anymore.

[111gecko]

I remember the 7-11 in Santa Rosa, CA. As a kid riding my bike up there and the only thing they had in stock for several months were 1986 Fleer Basketball...yep..boxes and boxes of them at the end of the candy aisle just piled up. We bought tons of them. I clearly remember having 3-4 pages of Jordan rookies in the beginning of the first binder followed by a few pages of Spud Webbs. A few years later I sold them to a card shop for $200 for prom money...yep, good times.

[ALBB]

Ok, now go get your shine box !!

[bmattioli]

Hey Scott, hope is well for you..

As a fellow CT resident and collector I remember going to the local Food Bag and get 7 packs for a whole dollar and opening and trying to build sets with all being wrapped in elastic bands.

I had a paper route at a young age delivering the New Britain Herald for the .10 cent tip and loved to buy Twinkies and other Hostess products just for the cards.

Wore my Jim Rice homemade Jersey till it was in shreds..

Played Wiffleball and other Baseball games all summer long..

The Summers of 1975 and 78 were unforgettable.. GO Sox..

ETC ETC..

[judgebuck]

I remember playing Park League and Little League baseball and then discovering baseball cards in 1958. From 1958-63, I would go to my grandfather's auto repair shop, which was located across the street from a small grocery store. Every time I went to the shop, we would go across the street and he would by me a few packs. I remember one occasion, in 1960 or 1961, he bought me a whole box of 24 5-card packs.

Also, during this period, I would get Post Cereal cards from the cereal boxes at the grocery store. A friend and I would trade often, but he sold all his cards years later to a younger friend of his. About four months ago, that friend sold me his collection which contained many of the cards I had traded to my friend. I had personally cut many of the Post Cereal cards in the collection myself some 57-60 years ago (I recognize the rough cut from my mother's scissors). Thankfully, the collection still had the Post Cereal football cards as well.

Also, I remember getting a few 1961-62 Fleer basketball cards and flipping them against a wall with a friend. I still have these cards.

[BabyRuth]

I remember driving back from the Baseball Hall of Fame in late summer 1972 and my brother and I were in the back seat of the Chrysler Newport with no air conditioning unwrapping our souvenirs from the Hall, a full box of cards each!!
It was glorious stuffing our faces with Topps gum.

[GeoPoto]

I guess on this board this is more or less a confession because I never really collected cards as a kid (I was 10 in 1963). I do however remember amassing a 100+ "bankroll" of cards. We used them mostly for gambling. I don't remember paying much attention to who the players were. I'm sure we were sensitive to the big names, but they were few and far between, as I recall. My only vivid memory involved a game of "touchies" in which I and an opponent miraculously extended the pile until it was the area of a kitchen table top (100+ cards in my memory). Eventually, the other guy somehow missed the pile and I walked away with most of his cards.

[Piratedogcardshows]

Originally Posted by ALBB

Ok, now go get your shine box !!

Nice!

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

Wow, Orioles70...amazing.

I bet many of us have thought about making a display in our basements/man caves/offices/game rooms full of cards, packs, and boxes to duplicate the look of the card shops of our youth. I know I have. But it’s such a daunting, labor intensive and expensive endeavor it’s hard to follow through. But that’s exactly what you’ve done. I can practically smell the cardboard, dust, and gum by looking at those pictures. Makes me want to grab my allowance money, ride my bike over with my buddies, and buy some packs looking for a McGwire rookie.

Thanks for sharing.