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David SmithWhen I first started collecting in 1977, the Minister of our church left and there were a number of fill-ins until the congregation found a new Minister. Every new Minister that came in, I would ask if he collected cards when he was young and if he still had them. Only one, that I can remember, said he did. He was older than most of the other temps, probably early 50's.
He said that he collected as a kid in the 1930's. When he went to serve in WW II, he put his cards and other things in the attic for storage. When he got out of the service, he went back home and some of the "more important" things were still in the attic but his Mom had thrown (or contributed to the paper drive) the cards away. I felt sick when I heard this.
Recently, at a Thrist Store that I go to, I was talking to an old guy who works there about sports and baseball and I asked him if he collected. He said he did back in the 1930's. He said he would go to the Drugstore in his town in Pennsylvania every weekend and buy packs or packages of cards. He would take them home, look at them and then put them in a box and store them under his bed. He, too, went to WW II but when he came back, his cards were still in his room. The problem came in the 1950's when the old house burnt down.....
David