Public Showings of Your Collection

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

I've loaned cards to two museums.

First, the Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Louis. This has been a great experience. I gave them a couple of things, loaned several, including cards. Most of the cards they've returned. They still have an Orsatti bat, Pepper Martin's 1934 contract, a game 7 1934 WS ticket, a Metro Studios of Branch Rickey... maybe some more stuff. The Curator there is extremely professional, a pleasure to work with. Each item gets an acquisition number, they take good care of the items. When cards were photographed for a Cardinals book they called for permission first, which I granted, and they attributed credit in the book. They gladly let me see my stuff if I visit the museum. It is great. Other people get to see the stuff, which is what it's really about.


Second experience was with the Louisville Slugger Museum. Again, a fantastic experience. They wanted type cards, which I supplied. DiMaggio had just died, and they used my 1939 Playball in their webpage about the display. The curator there was polite, intelligent, and wanted to understand the cards. They took care of the cards and I'd loan them out again if they asked. To my surprise, at the end of the process, they gave me a personalized pro model bat. I don't mean they stamped my name on the barrel... they lifted my signature from a letter I'd written, made a plate for it, and burned that into the barrel, with name also printed, just like the big guys. Quite unexpected. And a lot of work for them. I treasure the bat. And I figure some great-grandkid will have it out in a field one day, hitting rocks with it... But I'll be gone then.


Nothing but good experiences for me. But I was warned to NEVER loan anything to the National Baseball Museum. And to not leave a bequest of baseball memorabilia to them, either.


Frank.