When It Was A Hobby

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Posted By: bruce Dorskind

When It Was A Hobby

The first card show we ever attended was back in the Fall
of 1976. It was in the basement of a school in Greenwich
Village. Although crowded and a bit damp, the 25 or
so dealers that were there that day had more treasures
on their tables than those of the 300+ dealers who frequent
the National every year/

When it was a hobby, young men and their dads were
fascinated to hear stories about their grandfather’s heroes.

And while there were thousands of T 206’s spread across
a plethora of tables, one could pick up a complete
near mint set of Allen and Ginters for $300 or as many
many Triple folders as one wanted for $4.00 a piece.

There were no auctions in those days, but lots of finds.

The dealers we met that day encouraged our interest in ultra
rare type cards and suggested that we attend the
Philadelphia show.

And two months later we did. Where we met a bright,
smiling and very aggressive 15 year old lad. For the
then record price of $2000 he sold us a near mint Just So,
a near mint Four Base Hit and NY Kalamazoo Bat card.

He advised us to focus on the best cards that we could
afford. He said that the cards we bought would be a
great investment.

That young man was Rob Lifson. We still have the
Four Base Hits and the Just So in our collection.

We have not been to a show “worth going to” in more
than 5 years. Albeit, we did attend the Reading show
this past weekend.

While we failed to find any items on “America’s Toughest
Want list, it was great to catch up with long time connections
likeDan Mckee, Terry Knause, Bill Mastro, Levi Bleam,
and Wayne Varner and talk about the good old day When it
was a hobby….where you could actually find a meaningful
addition to your collection at a card show. How different
life was before E Bay and the auction circuit.


Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List