Hobby Pioneer John D. Wagner
 

I was doing a little research on Hobby Pioneer John D. Wagner and came across this -

I seem to have a foggy memory that he was a Master Sgt. in the Army Air Corps/Air Force Recruiting Center in Harrisburg, PA and buried in Arlington National Cemetery around 1988 or 89 but I'm unsure.

Very Early Baseball Card Hobby Letters
 

Here is some fun reading on John Wagner......Not sure if you have seen this..

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...=207944&page=3

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Those are great! Right during the very beginning on the Hobby too. John D. Wagner is a difficult man to find anything on.He was born in Hegins, PA and tells a great story of how he acquired his first T206s. I know really nothing about his family so this is interesting. He has a draft card from WWI but it dosent look like he went into the service until 1926 -when he would've been 27 or 28? In the mid 30's his occupation says "painter" and he was on active duty in the Army Air Corps from 1941-1956, retiring as a Master Sgt. It looks like he spent most of his time at the Harrisburg Recruiting Center and was able to hop on a plane anywhere in the country and acquire cards. Looks like he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery around 1988-89. Of course I could be wrong on some of this and there are a lot of gaps and a lot as a collector. Was he writing in the Card Collector's Bulletin or known to have assisted Burdick with the Card Catalogs?

Below is an article about John D. Wagner that was published in the 1983 Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide (the annual Beckett Guide). It is primarily about his card collecting history, without much about his personal life. I originally posted it in this thread:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=207915

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...50625_0005.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...50625_0006.jpg

As that article notes, Wagner met Jefferson Burdick in 1936 and did write for Card Collector's Bulletin and other early hobby publications. In the 1940s he often had half-page ads in CCB that were hand-drawn and listed cards and sets he needed. He also occasionally wrote articles for Burdick, such as this one from the October 1, 1941 CCB, recounting his meeting with Honus Wagner. I originally posted it in this post:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=239973

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...1/IMG_8306.jpg

Finally, this post includes some letters from Charles Bray to Wagner, and has links to other Wagner letters that Leon has posted:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=242090

Wags didn't like tobacco!!
 

Love the reason why Honus Wagner didn't want his picture on cards confirmation. Thanks for posting it.