First card in a set - any childhood stories?

[50sBaseball]

I collected baseball cards primarily in the 1950s and I would agree with some members that cards were more often organized by teams, not by number. In fact, we did not even know all the cards in the set until 1956 with checklists, so we would have had less reason to organize numerically. And for some of us with modest means, we never dreamed of buying enough cards to get all the cards in the set. We were more interested in getting all the cards we knew existed of our favorite team.
Thanks to learning from the 1953 Topps issue that differentiated between players in the National and American Leagues, I would first organize cards by leagues, and then by my favorite teams in that league with my favorite players first and then put them in cigar boxes.
I only put rubber bands around cards when I was taking some out of the house. In addition to damage from rubber bands, cards, especially those on top or bottom, were not treated well when they were jammed into your pockets when you wanted to take them with you for a possible trade. A rectangular bulge in your pocket would occasionally prompt a warning from a teacher: Whatever is in your pocket stays in your pocket! Those were the days!!

[Volod]

You're right, 50's - that's why I always carried my stack in a back pocket!

[bradmar48]

I have almost the full first series of 1957 Topps in what would be EX to EXMT with the top right corner cut off. I did this back in 57 so my older brother would not claim them as his. It must have worked because I still have them.

[spaidly]

I collected from 1974 to 1981. A friend of the family, who was a woodworker, made some sweet storage boxes for me that kept my cards in great shape. I always collected in numerical order going for complete sets. Never by team. Here is a photo of how I do it now, which is exactly how I did it when I was a kid.