How hard was it to find new Topps series in 1950s, '60s and early '70s?

[Exhibitman]

I bought a lot of packs in 1971-72-73 and I had nothing from any of the high # series and virtually nothing from the semi-highs. I think that by the time they came out each year the kids in my social group had moved on to other sports. The NYC teams in other sports were all contenders at the time [but the Yankees sucked] and we tended to collect with the new sports seasons and abandoned baseball when it became apparent that our team had no chance of going to the playoffs. That same pattern holds true for the other sports; I had virtually nothing from the 1971 Topps FB or BK 2nd series, or the 1972 Topps FB high #s. The later series cards also hung around for a while. I remember a drug store near my home that had a big barrel full of old packs--this is around 1976--that you could fish around and pull whatever you liked. I also found and purchased about half a box of 1971 Topps high # FB cellos [in their original cardboard covering boxes] in early 1977. I wish I'd had the foresight to really make an effort to go through that barrel and to keep those cellos intact, but I was a kid and really wasn't thinking in those terms.