Reading Material

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Posted By: Jeff Mohler

Can anyone suggest any good reading material (esp. books or pamplets)to educate myself on collecting vintage material? I am a beginner so anything pretty basic would be appreciated.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Lew Lipset's books are a must. Also, the book by Erbe and Miller is good. I forget the title but it si something like The American Book of Baseball Cards, or something like that. Contact David Rudd (cycleback) about getting his booklet.

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: bruce dorskind

I have been in the hobby for 27 years and have collected over 40 books on vintage
baseball collecting.

The most enjoyable one I have ever had the pleasure of reading was:
Baseball Treasures -Memorabilia from the National Pastime



Baseball Treasures
Price: $59.95Douglas Congdon-Martin & John Kashmanian

Memorabilia from the National Pastime
Book Details
ISBN: 0887404928

From its earliest days in the mid-1800s, baseball has had a warm place in the heart of American men and women. So it was natural for them to keep mementos of the game. Programs, team pictures, pennants, uniforms, and baseballs were commonly a part of the fan's collection. Seeing the public's fascination with the sport, companies began t use the baseball theme in their advertising. Trade cards, endorsements, and novelty items included the images of America's heroes beside the prominent name of the product being sold. Some of the finest baseball treasures are illustrated here in full color, reflecting the artistry of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. There are images of the heroes of the game, legendary names like Kelly, Ward, Cobb, Ruth, Gehrig, Robinson, and Mays. Here is a large selection of ephemera, uniforms, autographs, advertising, souvenirs, equipment, and much more to interest today's collector. Antiques from the Negro Leagues are also included, with a number of rare team photos. For the baseball lover or the collector of sports memorabilia, this will be a delightful, indispensable book.

Contact Us Schiffer Publishing
webmaster@schifferbooks.com.4880 Lower Valley Rd.
Copyright © 2005. Schiffer Publishing. All rights reserved.Atglen, PA 19310

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Posted By: leon

I have been in the hobby a short while compared with many on the board. If you want informative reading and learning about cards .....

1. Lew Lipset's Encyclopedia's...VOL 1-3....they usually come as 1 book and can be readily found on ebay or elsewhere. Buy it...learn it...and you will have a good foundation to build on.

2. Krause SCD Baseball 2005- 2006 ('06 is about to come out). Buy it, read it, learn it....for this discussion you can throw away the back 3/4 of the book. It's the shiney new stuff anyway. You almost have to have a copy of this to collect vintage. Don't take all of the prices as rock solid as the market moves a little faster than a yearly book. The SCD (Big Book) will also include 100's of new vintage sets that were not found yet, or not catalogued yet, when Lew wrote his encyclopedia or the ACC (American Card Catalogue) was put out.

3. Get a subscription to Oldcardboard magazine. It's the link at the top of the page. It will get you into current trends and new finds and has good, current, articles about the hobby. It's just about the only vintage baseball card magazine around anymore.

4. Buy all of the back issues of VCBC. They can be found on ebay on any given day. There are thousands of great articles and info on the hobby and the cards.

If you do those 4 things, and memorize them as well as you can.....you will skip most of the "not knowing" part of collecting......

regards

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Posted By: Scot

All the books listed above are great vintage reference books.
I would recommend old mastronet auction catalogues as well. They have a great variety of vintage collectibles and cards with good discriptions.

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Posted By: Alan

I agree with Scot. Looking at old Mastro catalogs can be extremely educational !!!

Alan

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Posted By: Scott Forrest

These are great if you're image-oriented. They are also one of the few cataglogs where you can get a large selection of high-quality vintage uniform photos...but I understand some are fakes