Oldtimers on this board?

[Keith H. Thompson]

in Rochester, MI, and although I was fanatic about the Detroit Tigers, the local convenience stores did not carry baseball, but did carry wartime sets of airplanes, naval ships. I had to do this on a nickle a week allowance or an occasional gratuity from a visiting relative. I hope I still have those cards.

My Detroit Tiger collecting activity was confined to cutting out pictures and box scores from the newspapers and scrapbooking. Things picked up in 1941 when I had an early morning Detroit Free Press paper route. And I mean early, I was through by 6:15 AM, rain, sleet or snow.

[Balticfox]

I too had a morning paper route delivering the Free Press, but it was the London Free Press just a few years later in 1964! The Detroit Free Press was the fascinating U.S. big city newspaper through which I looked on family visits to my uncle in Detroit.

[perezfan]

We had a fantastic store called Rich's Five and Dime on Ludlow Ave. in Cincinnati. Not only did we buy full boxes of 67, 68 and 69 Topps.... they had Topps' Player Posters of 1968 and Topps Team Posters of 1969. I've heard these referred to as "test issues" but perhaps they were more widespread.

Anyway, my brother and I were able to collect the complete sets of both, and we defaced our bedroom walls much to our mom's chagrin.

Better Days!

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by perezfan

We had a fantastic store called Rich's Five and Dime on Ludlow Ave. in Cincinnati. Not only did we buy full boxes of 67, 68 and 69 Topps....

You bought full boxes! How old were you?

[JollyElm]

My collecting journey started in the smoke-filled tobacco shops of lower Manhattan in 1910.

Still remember finding my first Hughie Jennings picture with his wide open mouth and hands flying all over the place shouting, "Eee-Yaaahhhh!" and I was done hooked.
Did a 23 skidoo to get home to my younger sister in time before she left for her 19-hour shift at the mill. At this point, she was only smoking six packs a day, not ten like me, but I figured six was better than nothing.

(Side note: You may not be aware of this, but in those days it was tough for the fairer sex to get their hands on smokes.)

So, we hatched a plan wherein if I went and got the ciggy packs for her each day, I would get to keep the pictures of the base ball men they held.

As he was downing a dirty bottle of bathtub gin, I was ready for my Pops to tell me to scram, but instead he slurred a hearty, "Attaboy!!!!!" as he belly laughed. I guess I should’ve known he’d be happy. If nothing else, that boozehound was a visionary.
Mother, of course, was less than enthusiastic about pasteboards becoming the cat’s pajamas, and she told us we were all wet!! I done proved her wrong, though, as our compact worked out great and my collection has been growing and increasing in value ever since!!!!

[talkinbaseball]

I remember vividly buying 1967 Topps Baseball Cards in the summer at a store in Old Lyme, CT at Sound View beach, I was 10 years old, I was so excited to get all the major stars.
John

[insidethewrapper]

A little local party store had me as a regular customer on my bike with my baseball glove on the handlebars starting in 1958. It was only one street over from my house.