The shows in the Bay Area were among the best in the hobby in the early to mid 70’s. I attended my first around 1974, after meeting Jim Horne at a local flea market , where he told me about the first show in ’73 . Acalanes High School in Lafayette, St Alberts in Palo Alto, Bellarmine Prep in San Jose, the Veterans Hall in Santa Rosa and Sunset High School in Hayward were among the many locations. Usually 50-100 tables in size, most were on a Saturday and the advanced collectors of the day... Dick Dobbins, Jim Horne, John Spalding, Bill Weiss, Lou Chericoni, Don Hazelwood, Doug McWilliams, George Callahan, Don McPherson, and others were not only in attendance, they were very helpful to younger collectors. The first show I displayed at in 1976 cost $5 for the table. Plastic sheets were not popular (tough to find as well) and most people just put stacks of cards out on their tables. T-206’s and beat up Zeenuts were plentiful and under $1, Obaks and caramel cards (E-120/121) were a few bucks each, superstars of the 60’s were a dime to a quarter each (Mantle, Mays, Aaron) and flannel uniforms were $25-50 each. Still a lot of money for a teenager. Many long term friendships were forged during those years as well.
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