Going to card shows in the 1970s

[oaks1912]

Hi Troy,
Someone alerted me to this post and the great photos. Picture #1 shows Bill Weiss, in the center looking to the right (thin hair and wearing glasses). I cannot see the detail on the guy that you think is Jim Horne, but it sure looks close. If this was '75 I was in attendance....I don't see my picture, but I'm sure that quite a few of the attendees were not pictured... I set up the following year and continued to exhibit there until the final one in '82. My tables were located against the wall shown in image #1 , right under the basketball hoop. We used the bleachers to store complete sets. John & Barbara Spalding were set up right next to me, and Don & Scott Hazelwood were set up in the alcove just under the ventThere are very few pictures known from this era of the Northern California shows. Great memories...Thanks for sharing

[LuckyLarry]

How great are those pictures!

Larry

[oaks1912]

Follow up from last night. I checked the first Northern California Collector's Directory, compiled in '74 and released in early 1975. I found Mark Larson & Rich Sawyer listed. Also found Jerry Stone (who posted earlier). Maybe you didn't sign up as it was optional. Attached is my table confirmation postcard from the 1979 Acalanes show. Dobbins asked me to bring along a Pete Rose bat. It was probably worth about $25 in trade then

[oaks1912]

Troy...you are listed in the 1977 directory.... Below is the souvenir from the 1975 Acalanes show. Do you still have yours?

[GasHouseGang]

What strikes me most about those photos, is how few "old guys" there are at that show. Now it seems the show photos are dominated by the people that were kids in those photos. There just aren't nearly as many young people collecting as there used to be I guess. That was around the time I started collecting myself, and there seemed to be lots of friends my same age that were into it back then. Just an observation.

[icollectDCsports]

Those photos are so great. Thank you for posting them.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by icollectDCsports

Those photos are so great. Thank you for posting them.

+1. I'm trying to figure out what was for sale in the pics. It looks from photo #13 that a 1972 Frank Robinson is in the middle of the sheet, with maybe a 1967 Robby next to him. That might be a '74 Aaron Special below the '72 Robby, and the '72 card to the left looks familiar but I can't place it. BTW, maybe it was because I lived in pastoral, time moved slowly Minnesota at the time, but we did not have vinyl/plastic sheets for cards in 1975. Do you recall when you first saw them?

[Seven]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

What strikes me most about those photos, is how few "old guys" there are at that show. Now it seems the show photos are dominated by the people that were kids in those photos. There just aren't nearly as many young people collecting as there used to be I guess. That was around the time I started collecting myself, and there seemed to be lots of friends my same age that were into it back then. Just an observation.

To piggyback off this, as someone whose recently gotten back into the hobby, I was pretty amazed by the positive reception I was given by many of the older folks when It came to walking into shows or stores. I fondly remember talking with a group of older gentleman a few months ago about some of the early 50's topps set and they seemed really excited that someone younger was so interested. As a side note I was really looking forward to going to Wildwood this summer for the Show that they have at their convention center, doesn't look like that's going to be the case though.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

What strikes me most about those photos, is how few "old guys" there are at that show. Now it seems the show photos are dominated by the people that were kids in those photos. There just aren't nearly as many young people collecting as there used to be I guess. That was around the time I started collecting myself, and there seemed to be lots of friends my same age that were into it back then. Just an observation.

Context is everything. Back in the day shows were local or regional events, cheap to attend and set up at (I think my first table when i was 12 or 13 was ten bucks and I made all of $75 for the night selling postwar Topps cards), and cards were generally cheap. Kid-friendly. Not so much now. Doesn't mean kids aren't collecting, just that they aren't coming to the National or giant regional shows. Also, the kids tend to stick to the new wax (well, plastic) pack and pack busting areas at the big shows. Not much interest in 100 year old cards of dead guys, unless they are nerds like I was (am)...

[slantycouch]

Troy - these photos are incredible!

I passed photo #6 and my brain instinctively said "oh, she's probably looking at Facebook on her phone..." ha!