Oldtimers on this board?

[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.

[akleinb611]

It was 1961 for me. I was six and I came across my friend's older brother sorting through a bunch of cards he had. I was very much taken with them - I remember the 1961 Johnny Podres had a huge close up of his face, and the colors were really bright. My parents were immigrants and didn't know anything about baseball cards, but my father was a huge baseball fan, so he supported my desire to get these strange and wonderful things. He figured that a penny for a photo and stats of a ballplayer was a pretty good deal. The local candy store and newsstand in Queens, where I lived, was my regular haunt for the next few months (it was around this time that I also started buying comic books at ten cents a pop). Another friend's older brother also gave me a stack of about fifty 1960 cards, which introduced me to the idea that these things were different every year, and which probably changed my DN A to that of a collector.

My mother recalled getting movie star cards back in 1930's Germany, when she'd be sent to the store to buy cigarettes for her father.

At the end of the season, most of my friends were throwing their cards out, but my father told me that he hadn't paid for all the cards just to have them thrown out. He bought me a scrapbook and a bag of photo corners (remember those?), and I mounted all my cards. Which is why I still have them.

Alan

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by akleinb611

He bought me a scrapbook and a bag of photo corners (remember those?), and I mounted all my cards. Which is why I still have them.

Your father was a wise man. He also knew the value of a penny!