Two hour interview with.... Bill Mastro

[Peter_Spaeth]

Where did Ray discuss the origin? I know I have read this but cannot now recall except to vaguely remember it was something about Florida.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Where did Ray discuss the origin? I know I have read this but cannot now recall except to vaguely remember it was something about Florida.

Off memory - Ray's version of events is recounted in O'Keefe's book, who I believe he spoke to for an article or two from a couple years before the book. I believe there are other places it's been, but I'm not sure when it first appeared as it was probably before my time. I'm pretty sure we dived into Ray and the card in the thread here a couple years ago.

As I recall the details (I'm not home, I can't go through my archive right now), the Florida origin was stated by Ray to be from a flea market. The sheet was bought at the flea market for an unstated pittance, and then brought up north where the cutting and selling (1985) happened via Ray. Ray, of course, is probably the only person who would really have any real information on the origin. I would never assume people are honest, but there's no other evidence and nothing that contradicts.

The claims from Long Island have been made by multiple people. None have ever been able to provide a shred of evidence or real information beyond just insisting they are right because they are.

NY is closer to the production facility (we do not actually know, despite many claims to the contrary, for a certain fact which facility actually printed T206 - probably it was multiple, and not all of them may have been direct on paper facilities of the ALC), but in the course of 70 something years items move around. Plenty of New Yorkers have retired to Florida and brought their possessions with them. I have found 1910 T card sheets (actually a series of panels in two sheets for two different sets) and traced them to a NY origin, but things can be found in other places too and be legitimate. I don't see any problem with a sheet popping up in Florida.

[Peter_Spaeth]

In this 2001 piece by O'Keeffe, Ray refused to say where he got it. Also note Mastro's adamant denial.

https://www.t206museum.com/page/periodical_19.html

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

In this 2001 piece by O'Keeffe, Ray refused to say where he got it. Also note Mastro's adamant denial.

https://www.t206museum.com/page/periodical_19.html

I do not have a copy of O’Keefe’s book anymore, I recycled mine. The Florida speculation/story is included and mentioned in some articles in promotion of the book you can pull online if you want. I doubt I can trace it to the first appearance, and I doubt O’Keefe was the first claimant as I’ve heard this since the late 90’s.

The Long Island claimant was asked for evidence they claimed to posses over and over on this board and refused to ever divulge it. This was a lie, it possibly is from NY (it probably was in 1909!) but it isn’t because of this claim.

I have no clue what the actual truth is, and nobody has ever given anything to prove it. I have no reason to doubt the long standing story especially, nor to argue that it is the truth. I don’t know where it is actually from, we probably never really will at this remove. That’s the point, that we lost a lot of history that we aren’t likely to be able to find anywhere else because this unique item of immense value to research was cut up and ruined for some bucks, and no information preserved. It is quite unfortunate for us all.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by G1911

I do not have a copy of book anymore, I recycled mine.

The best thing you could have possibly done, seeing as the days of the outhouse are behind us.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

The best thing you could have possibly done, seeing as the days of the outhouse are behind us.

I considered the outhouse, but I thought that would be insulting to excrement. His infatuation with Lifson and a number of errors about cards were forgivable, but spending much of the text implying card collectors are racists because they are able to recognize obvious reprints was just too dumb to waste bookshelf space with.