I'm so grateful to my mother for thousands of things or more, not the least of which are these three:
1. She got me hooked on cards at age seven, when she brought home a box of cards from the early 60's that she picked up at a rummage sale for a buck or two. There must have been a thousand cards in there, mostly '63-65 Topps but some earlier sprinkled in too. Got these cards and never looked back.
2. She never threw away my cards, despite the many threats to do so. Cards were everywhere in our rather modest-sized house, making her housekeeping a challenge or worse. Still, they were not tossed then, or after I left home for college.
3. She bought me a dozen or so Old Judge's when I was 13, from a neighbor who landed them in an "antique" auction at an old railroad depot. This was my first exposure to pre-war, and I still have many of these, including this one:
Thanks again mom!!