The Find that Never Was....

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Posted By: John S

Share your near-miss stories. Here's mine:

My Grandmother lived in the same house her entire life. It was a typical square frame three stroy home with a third floor that was always used as an attic (oh yes...a grandmother's attic story).

She was born in 1916 and was the second oldest of four siblings. Her youngest brother, my Uncle Mike, was born in 1921. He was an avid baseball fan and as early as I can remember he would tell me about his baseball card collection. His descriptions were vivid and once I began to become interested in vintage cards in the mid-80's I realized that he was talking about '33 and '34 Goudeys. He would talk about the multiple Ruth's that he had saved in addition to the sets. Unfortunately my Uncle Mike hadn't seen his collection since he left for the Army in the early 40's. On holidays Uncle Mike and I would go up to the attic to the very spots were he had remembered hiding his collection years ago. We never found anything.

The attic was an ebayer's dream come true. At least three dozen people had lived in the house over the years and all there belongings had been meticulously organized and cared for by my Grandparents. You name it, it was up there...except for the baseball cards.

My uncle passed away in 1994. I would always spend time in the attic trying to search for the cards. His belongings that he had never claimed still were neatly organized in one part of the attic. When my Grandmother passed away in 2004 I was enlisted to clean the attic. As the floor became noticeable (you could literally date the layers of items in the attic) I noticed some plankings that had been deliberately detached and replaced. The cards had to be in the floor! It was the only place that I had never searched. Unfortunately I only unearthed some dry-rotted rubber balls and jacks.

The house was sold in 2005 and the only comfort that I have is that there is no way that the cards are in the attic. They probably were tossed after my Uncle left in the 40's or donated to a paper drive. The hope of a great find kept me searching for almost 25 years.