Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper
LOL I can see it now. A wheelbarrow full of Ruth signed balls for a loaf of bread. 
BTW, Jim... Did Armstrong collect other fields outside of baseball? |
Yes, he did but baseball was what he collected most, He began collecting in the 1930's as a youngster and (I think ...but just a guess) that he made the transition to mostly baseball later, The reason I say that is because in the autograph books I bought from the family which were from the 1930's , there was about an even mix from all sports and even historical.
He lived in New Jersey around that time and tracked down some very tough and obscure names including the original Joe Walcott (Died-1935) who was then a custodian at Madison Square garden and nearly destitute , I remember too that he had all types of material related to boxer John L. Sullivan , Including ornamates, furniture and custom whiskey and beer bottles with Sullivan's name on them, One of the news articles said they were from John L. Sullivan's bar, but I don't know that he ever owned a bar, as Sullivan became a teetotaler for most of his life after boxing and sometimes the newspapers don't always get it right.
I DO remember it as being the largest single signed baseball collection ever sold ! That became his collecting specialty ,
Some of the old timers that used to go to Cooperstown every year might remember him but I was always told he kind of kept to himself and was not part of the close knit collecting crowd that used to make the sojourn to the Hall every year for inductions
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