T206 Wagner in Canada

Balticfox · #1 12-29-2024, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dealme

Well…I went down that rabbit hole. Pretty disturbing stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by todeen

no, we are all interested in this rabbit hole!

That rabbit hole is chock full of memories for me. The first thing that drew my eye was the sign advertising Silverwood's cones, milk shakes and sundaes. Signs like this one were common outside London's variety stores when I was a kid:

(Not mine.)

Silverwood's was London's own mega dairy. Silverwood's horse drawn delivery carts and Divco trucks were a common sight on London's leafy streets providing home delivery of milk in glass bottles in the 1950's and 1960's:

My sister worked at the Silverwood ice cream plant on Bathurst Street a scant kilometre away from our house in the summer of 1963 and she brought a complete set of the SICLE Air Force cards home for me!

She also worked at Silverwood's in the summer of 1968(?) and I worked at the Silverwood's ice cream plant in the spring of 1972 after it had relocated to the southern edge of London just east of Wellington Road.

Silverwood's grew by acquisition to spread nationally and become Canada's largest dairy by the late 1960's.

John Labatt Limited's Ault Foods subsidiary acquired Silverwood's in 1984 and after several more corporate transactions/amalgamations even the Silverwood name brand had disappeared by the turn of the century.

I passed by the Stanley Variety hundreds of times growing up since it was on the route of the Ridout bus I used to take to my high school downtown from 1966 to 1970. But Stanley Street was the northern boundary of my elementary school district and the Stanley Variety was almost a kilometre away from my house. There was actually no reason for me to trek all the way to the Stanley Variety because every corner store carried the same bubble gum cards like these Hockey cards that I collected in grade two:

But Joe S. who was my age lived right across the street from the Stanley Variety with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather and my dad were both Lithuanian and fishing buddies. In fact in 1969 my father bought their 1961 Mercury Comet for our family (for me actually because I was the one who got a driver's licence). Joe and I therefore hung out sometimes when we were in grade school.

I still clearly remember the time Joe had bought a pair of black Jolly Roger flags at Canadian Tire for his bike. Spotting these his grandfather started berating him for the hideous banners he'd put on his bike. "Now is that nice?" were his exact words in Lithuanian. Joe's immediate defence was that I was going to do the same. And I certainly would have but I didn't have the money!

Just like my own father confiscated my T-shirt to use as a rag after I'd lovingly ironed a Brother Rat Fink transfer upon it:

Somehow the old guys had completely forgotten the desires that lurk within the hearts of young boys.

Joe used to constantly tout the coolness of his neighbourhood Stanley Variety, e.g. how that was where the best value in pea shooters could be found and how great the milk shakes were. I don't remember whether the Stanley Variety actually had a sit-down counter at the time.

But Joe and I actually didn't share too many interests. He collected neither cards nor comics and he didn't have any cool toys like an Eagle Hockey game, Lionel train set or Dinky Toys. I do need to give him credit though for being the runner up Duncan Spin Top champion in our corner of the city in 1963(?) and going on to the southwestern Ontario regional finals in Chatham!

So Joe was never among my very closest buddies.

Neither was he exactly a scholar. Nonetheless after some trouble in his teens, Joe straightened out and went on to win the Mr. London bodybuilding contest in the early 1980's! Being entrepreneurially inclined he now owns and operates his own gym in the northwest corner of London.

Those though are the pleasant memories. The rabbit hole goes deeper, much deeper and darker.

samosa4u · #2 01-01-2025, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balticfox

there was actually no reason for me to trek all the way to the stanley variety because every corner store carried the same bubble gum cards like these hockey cards that i collected in grade two:

Did you collect the Topps hockey cards from the previous year? The reason why I am asking you this is because card #66 is the famous Golden Jet rookie !

Because it was the last card in the set, it is often found in poor shape (first and last cards got handled the most). Furthermore, it was also on the bottom-right corner of the uncut sheet and was cut very poorly. Most ended up being either off-centered or miscut!!

Balticfox · #3 01-01-2025, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Did you collect the Topps hockey cards from the previous year?

The first cards I ever owned were actually four of the 1958-59 Topps Hockey cards which I gathered off the street one late February or early March day in 1959. The first three were Detroit Red Wings, but the last was a Chicago Blackhawk. When I saw that big Indian head on the red uniform, I knew that was my favourite team - even though I might have had trouble reading the team name at the time! I have every card but the Bobby Hull in my present day collection. Here are some shots:

Quote:

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Because it was the last card in the set, it(Bobby Hull) is often found in poor shape (first and last cards got handled the most). Furthermore, it was also on the bottom-right corner of the uncut sheet and was cut very poorly. Most ended up being either off-centered or miscut!!

I bought a VG- one back in 1980 in an antique junk shop but traded it off just over 25 years ago because it wasn't up to my quality standards when it came to condition. I'm looking for one now that's wayyyy off center because I'm indifferent to centering and I'd like to get one for a semi-reasonable price. (I didn't care a whit about centering as a kid so why should I now?) But the card stock of these 1958-59 Topps Hockey often betrays yellowed borders and I still want a Hull that's as sharp and white as my other cards from this set. I'm not sure that the 8 you posted is white enough for my quality standards. I'd need to compare it side-by-side to my others.

Balticfox · #4 01-03-2025, 09:59 PM

Here anyway is a picture from a few years ago of old Ang in his den surrounded by his sports memorabilia:

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