Tell your story about the cards Mom threw away

[David W]

My mom was (is) a neat freak, I wasn't. I'd leave stacks of 70's cards on my bedroom floor, dresser, etc...

She'd go through the room every couple of months and just throw stuff out.

My dad would see them in the trash, come and get me and tell me "Don't let your mom know I told you, but your cards are in the garbage again."

I don't know if mom ever knew she threw the same cards away over and over.

[drc]

My mom's take is when the mom threw out the kid's cards, it was probably the kid's fault. Cards thrown out were more likely spread out on the floor or bed or livingroom than neatly filed away by the kid when he was done playing with them. You guys ain't getting no apology from my mom.

[tbob]

Mom didn't touch my cards, I got rid of many complete sets of 1958 through 1962 myself. I remember the first set I collected, 1958 when I was 8, had 5 or 6 Mantles. I had so many 1960 Mantles I used to trade them for commons I needed. Smart, huh? I sold the 58s-62s in "bricks" of 50 for a nickel to buy other things.
Mom did however throw out all my comics including issues 1-50 Fantastic Four, 1-30 Amazing Spiderman, and tons of other Marvels and DCs all in very fine to mint condition. Thanks mom. (I still think you are the greatest though).

[orator1]

When I was little I associated older cards with cards that had wrinkles. I therefore proceeded to create wrinkles in some my cards to make them seem older. After doing this to a few cards it didn't take long before I regretted it. My most wrinkled card is my 1975 Hank Aaron. It might have the dubious honor of being the most wrinkled card in existence.

[btkpath]

Well, this is a great topic for my first post to these boards, as it represents the genesis for me entering the hobby. I have been a long time lurker and have gained tremendous information and insight from following this forum (and its earlier form).

Around 5 years ago, when asked about my baseball card collection from when I was a kid (mostly 70's and early 80's), my mother informed me that she "didn't know where it was and it might have been thrown out!" I had always had visions of turning the cards over to my sons at the right time and that time had come. After my blood pressure returned to normal, I looked into collecting vintage cards in hopes of deciding on a set that appealed visually to me, had some historical significance, was complete-able (no t206 set for me...sorry), was not too esoteric and was something that I would need to collect over time (i.e. I did not have the financial means to write a check and purchase the entire set outright)....and I could involve my kids in this endeavor and eventually turn the cards over to them.

Well, I decided on the 1933 Goudey set and my quest for expensive pieces of cardboard (as my wife puts it) began. I have since completed the 1933 set (yes, all 240 cards) and have started on the t205's and 1914 cracker jacks.

So, in some respects, my mother's comments with regards to my childhood collection were a blessing in disguise (again, my wife does not necessarily share this opinion) as it provided me with the opportunity to enter a hobby that I never really considered previously.

[rdixon1208]

I've left several 3,000 count boxes at my Mom's, my sister's, and even at my father-in-law's house over the years. All these cards are from the late 80's to 90's, so I wish they would go ahead and throw them away, but they won't! They keep saying things like "I'm sure there's some in there that are worth some money!"

[dennis]

every year from 1959 to 1967 i'd buy baseball and football cards and almost complete sets every year. and every year my mom would toss them in the garbage. that was normal then. i never looked for last years cards, they were old,all we cared about was this years model. thats just the way it was back then. i'm really jealous when someone says their mom kept all their toys from their youth. not my mom she threw every thing out so as to not clutter up the house.

I was a kid in the early 50s, can't say how many '52 Topps Mantles went through my hands, but I had amassed at least a shoe box and a half of cards. I clearly remember the Bowman's because of the TV screen. One day we moved and I figured my stuff moved with me...NOT. I aksed my mom one day what happened to my cards, she tossed them. What really stung the most was how my Lionel train set and my TREASURED Daisy BB gun was never seen again.

OH THE HUMANITY!!!!

[Mrc32]

Originally Posted by rdixon1208

I've left several 3,000 count boxes at my Mom's, my sister's, and even at my father-in-law's house over the years. All these cards are from the late 80's to 90's, so I wish they would go ahead and throw them away, but they won't! They keep saying things like "I'm sure there's some in there that are worth some money!"

Robert- I have the same thing at my mother's house. She keeps asking me to get them out of her basement. I wish she would just throw them away. I can't tell her to do it, since most of them came from her shelling over 40 cents a pack. It is mostly her money in those monster boxes.

[Jim VB]

I've told this story before, so apologies in advance to those who have heard it.

In the 1950's through 1966, we lived in Queens, NY (corner of Metropolitan Ave and Woodhaven Blvd. for those who know the area.) Dad worked for the A&P plant at Bush Terminal in Brooklyn, as Superintendent of Shipping. The trash contractor who picked up from the A&P also had the Topps printing plant on his route. He and Dad got to be friends, so he would, almost daily, drop off all the uncut sheets that Topps tossed out. (Remember, this was 1953 to maybe 1964. These sheets were discarded for printing flaws. They had "no value".)

My older brother or I would sit at the kitchen table on many nights and cut them, with a scissors, into individual cards. (I know! I know!) My brother was responsible for most of the 1953-1959 cutting. I took over for the early 1960's.

We always had thousands of cards, all hand cut, many miscut. But... when you have so many of something, at so low cost (free) they have no value. We tossed them every year, as soon as the new cards came out.

Around 1964 or so, the supply seemed to dry up. I never asked why, but a few months ago I was emailing with Dave Hornish and looking at his site and it hit me that around 1964, Topps moved their printing facilities to Duryea, PA.

I had to start to collect in the conventional way and actually buy packs. But each year, I still treated the cards like before. They held no value, as soon as the new year was released.

So, my Mom wasn't the villian here. I was. In fact, the last year I collected back then was 1968. I had nearly the full set. When the 1969's came out I tossed the 1968's and decided I was too old (14) to waste money on cards.

My mother actually pulled that shoebox from the trash and saved it for years, until I came to my senses.