Two hobby obituaries by Lionel Carter, 1974-76

[trdcrdkid]

I've recently posted several accounts of early sports collecting conventions by Lionel Carter, whose writing (I think most of you will agree) was always entertaining, with lots of details that make you feel like you were there with him. Another thing Carter did well was write obituaries of his fellow old-time collectors, more and more of whom shuffled off this mortal coil as the years went by. Here are two such obituaries by Carter from the 1970s; neither of these collectors was well known outside the small fraternity of serious old-time collectors, but Carter's writing brings them to life, and I'm grateful for his accounts of their lives, and for the hobby history that's intertwined with their stories. The first of these obituaries, for Howard Leheup, appeared in the April 1976 Ballcard Collector (#121). The second one, for M. H. "Jake" Wise, was in the March-April 1974 Sport Fan, and tells a rather sad story. The article by Wise that Carter refers to in the third paragraph of the first page was in The Ballcard Collector #52 (September 1970), and I've added a scan of that at the end.

[brian1961]

David, i sincerely thank you for loading up these two hobby obituaries by Lionel Carter. How well I remember the one of Jake Wise. I was a SPORT FAN subscriber at the time it was printed. That poor man. Lionel was very ticked off about how he was treated by other hobbyists, when Jake had to sell his collection off, little by little. They took rotten advantage of this man who was down on his luck, with his mind starting to falter. It was all Lionel could do not to name names. You can really derive this from the tone of his words.

I loved Lionel Carter. Not only was he a mentor, but a hobby watchdog of the first rank. We did not always agree, but he knew how to call a spade a spade. Lionel, along with George Lyons, Ric Apter, and Bob Solon, were my favorite baseball card hobby writers.

Sure wish i could have spent an afternoon and evening talking with 'ol Jake about any experiences he had with the 1953-54 Briggs Meats, since he lived in the Washington, DC area.


Thanks again, David. Best regards, Brian Powell

PS Just read your piece by none other than Jake himself. Wow. Now I'm very angry all over again. Same thing happened to me at the 73-74 Midwest Convention, on a much, much smaller scale. I'm eating lunch at the bar counter at the Hilton. A fellow collector strikes up a deal with me for a couple 73 Topps Candy Lids. Said he'd send me a check in the mail. It never came. He would have had money on him, but that's over 40 years ago.

[Leon]

Lionel was certainly one of the most prolific writers in the early hobby days. He, Jefferson Burdick and Charles Bray seem to be on the short list of most ardent hobbyists in the first stages of the organized hobby, cica 1935? I am pretty sure I have some Jake Wise correspondence or publications he was in or mentioned in. Don't know the other gentleman's name as much. Thanks for posting these.

[tiger8mush]

thanks for sharing!