Where has all the 19th century baseball memorabilia gone?

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

You mean 1950, Val, not 1959. Thanks, I'm quite familiar with both of them, having handled a number of them in my time as a dealer, and have Tom Holster's wonderfully done repros to remind me. When's the last time you saw either for sale, though? Been a long time for me. As for Goldfaden, I met him at his shop in L.A. in the late 90s, as you say, a real hobby oldtimer specializing in pubs.

Hank, thanks for catching my goof, which I have now corrected. Now that you mention it, it has been a good while since I've seen either the 1949 or 1950 yearbook for sale.

Speaking of Tom Holster, I keep Tom Holster's wonderful, 1995 soft-cover book, "Washington Senators Checklist Book Volume 1,"on the corner of my desk and refer to it often. Do you happen to know if Tom is still involved in the hobby?

[jbsports33]

Yes! the 19th century baseball memorabilia has dried up and only see it within larger auction houses or larger shows. I use to see it more often in my travels, just not the same anymore - collectors with $ or the big companies are getting their hands on it faster these days. Still looking for those W1 poker type baseball cards and just never see them. Miss seeing stuff in person, items must still be out there - just not at the local level anymore

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Hank, thanks for catching my goof, which I have now corrected. Now that you mention it, it has been a good while since I've seen either the 1949 or 1950 yearbook for sale. Speaking of Tom Holster, I keep Tom Holster's wonderful, 1995 soft-cover book, "Washington Senators Checklist Book Volume 1,"on the corner of my desk and refer to it often. Do you happen to know if Tom is still involved in the hobby?

Val, I'm sad to report that Tom passed away several years ago. We were great friends, and though I didn't see him often, we spoke on the phone a lot. At some point, he decided to sell all his stuff and pull back from the hobby to devote more time to his growing family, and I think he was happier for it. We are the beneficiaries of his passion for all things Senators, though, and his checklist book represents years of work. Tom was a wonderful man and a great hobbyist while he was involved. I miss him a lot.

[bcbgcbrcb]

I think it’s just a matter of time before 19th Century material comes out of the woodwork. That’s one segment of the hobby that really hasn’t seen a huge run up yet as compared to pre-war iconic cards of Ruth, Jackson, Wagner, etc. Once we get a couple of huge sales at auction, you’ll be surprised how much comes up for sale/auction. Nobody wants to be the first out of fear of leaving too much money on the table.

[bigfanNY]

I have been collecting for a long time and early Baseball memorabilia especially from the 1870's and early 1880's has always been scarce. Part of that scarcity comes from the fact that there was only one leauge..The National leauge. Teams struggled in the early years and played far fewer games. Scorecards and tickets from the first few years of the National Leauge are extremely scarce. And a few of the best collections made their way to the Hall of Fame.
Maybe the celebration of 150 years of the NL next year will bring out some items. I hope so but even if they do pop up demand is gonna sweep them up pretty quickly.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

I have been collecting for a long time and early Baseball memorabilia especially from the 1870's and early 1880's has always been scarce. Part of that scarcity comes from the fact that there was only one leauge..The National leauge. Teams struggled in the early years and played far fewer games. Scorecards and tickets from the first few years of the National Leauge are extremely scarce. And a few of the best collections made their way to the Hall of Fame.
Maybe the celebration of 150 years of the NL next year will bring out some items. I hope so but even if they do pop up demand is gonna sweep them up pretty quickly.

How many were kept in the first place and, even if they were, how many survivors are going to keep them after the original owners died 125+ years ago? For the most part, I don’t think people saw any “value” in this stuff back in the early days….especially for “throw away” items like tickets and scorecards. Things have changed so much….just think of the number of bats and uniforms a modern player goes through compared to the 19th century and even 50 years ago. And, these days, someone is always there to grab those uniforms and bats.

[murphusa]

I am constantly emailing, texting and writing my old customers to try and judge their vision of where or what they are doing with their collections.

I also contact estate/divorce lawyers in my area letting them know about my services, along with people who run estate sales

[vintagesportscollector]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

How many were kept in the first place and, even if they were, how many survivors are going to keep them after the original owners died 125+ years ago? For the most part, I don’t think people saw any “value” in this stuff back in the early days….especially for “throw away” items like tickets and scorecards. Things have changed so much….just think of the number of bats and uniforms a modern player goes through compared to the 19th century and even 50 years ago. And, these days, someone is always there to grab those uniforms and bats.

From my experience most of the tickets and scorecards, from the 19th century or TOC, that I have acquired or have seen, survived because they were kept in scrapbooks. If they were in a scrapbook they survived and were kept by relatives, otherwise they were thrown away for the most part.

[ValKehl]

Many old scorecards may have fallen victim to paper salvage drives during wartime, especially during WWII: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_...939%E2%80%9350

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

I think it’s just a matter of time before 19th Century material comes out of the woodwork. That’s one segment of the hobby that really hasn’t seen a huge run up yet as compared to pre-war iconic cards of Ruth, Jackson, Wagner, etc. Once we get a couple of huge sales at auction, you’ll be surprised how much comes up for sale/auction. Nobody wants to be the first out of fear of leaving too much money on the table.

Interesting idea. I have no idea if you’ll be proven correct.