New Baseball Card Book Just Published

[barrysloate]

Today I received a new book about the history of baseball card collecting by a talented young author named Dave Jamieson. It's titled "Mint Condition" and was published by Atlantic Monthly Press. It came in today's mail and I am already 90 pages into it. It's beautifully written, well researched, and insightful. And I don't think I've even hit the best parts yet.

Dave called me a year or two ago and we had a few phone interviews about the hobby. It kind of slipped my mind but he contacted me a couple of weeks ago to say the book was out. He kindly sent me a gratis copy.

The early sections deal with the history of the tobacco wars in the late 1880's and early 1900's; there is an excellent chapter on Jefferson Burdick that is much more thorough than anything I've read before; there's a humorous and bittersweet profile of Mike Gidwitz; and later chapters look like they will cover the good and the bad of the hobby, and how collecting baseball cards has become an obsession.

Many hobby notables are quoted in the early sections, including Rob Lifson and Bill Mastro, and I even saw Bruce Dorskind and David Cycleback cited (maybe I'm in there too, but I haven't finished it).

Anyway, this has the look of a must read book. I'll add to this thread when I finish it.

[teetwoohsix]

Thanks Barry-it's always nice to know about a great new book,especially about the hobby!!I appreciate the heads up!!

Sincerely,Clayton

[magic1313]

Thought I would help you out with a link to amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Mint-Condition.../dp/0802119395

[B O'Brien]

Thanks for the info. I just order that one and did the preorder for the T206 book. I went ahead and stuck them in the wife's cart on Amazon!
Thanks,
Bob

[ethicsprof]

i just ordered it,too, Barry!!
your recommendation carries alot of weight!!
i also went ahead and pre-ordered the T206 book which i'd like you to review,too!

best,
barry

[drc]

If I'm cited, I'll buy 50 copies. If the citation is positive, 200.

I hope it doesn't detail my obsession with Jean Shrimpton. That was supposed to be off the record.

[barrysloate]

You're in there David...go for it!

[Bicem]

just ordered one, thanks for the heads up.

[Kawika]

Did a little googling around and found this article about BB cards by Jamieson at Slate http://www.slate.com/id/2224864/ . Guy looks to be an entertaining writer. Love the Über-nerd self-reference. Plus Crazy '08 author Cait Murphy's dust jacket blurb counts for something (that was one helluva book) so just ordered a copy of Mint Condition from Amazon.
Hey, Barry. Do you know if they had any good vintage baseball card shops back in 1910?

[barrysloate]

You would have had a pretty tough time making a living as a baseball card dealer back in 1910. Maybe you could sell Old Judges five for a penny, or something like that.

[Kawika]

I guess I'll leave the time-space jokes to Steven Wright from now on.

[toppcat]

Appreciate the heads up Barry-just ordered one.

[barrysloate]

It's a great read Dave. I'm a little deeper into it and I am learning something new each chapter. Jamieson takes subjects we already know something about but handles them in great depth. Everyone on the board should read it.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by Kawika

Do you know if they had any good vintage baseball card shops back in 1910?

I think the friendly corner tobacconist a century ago would fit this bill nicely.

[Kawika]

The other week I was over in Victoria, British Columbia and dropped into one of my favorite shops, Old Morris Tobacconist, in continuous business in the same location downtown for 116 years. Betcha they moved a lot of Obak product in 1911.

[barrysloate]

Just finished the book and I will say it's an excellent read. For those who felt O'Keeffe's book was too negative, the Jamieson book is well balanced with the good, the bad, and the in-between parceled out in equal portions. It's very well documented and it was hard for me to find any errors at all.

I do have to tell you there is a chapter near the end about our own Kevin Saucier that will give anyone who collects high grade slabbed cards a good case of the heebie jeebies. It's pretty scary stuff. But I don't want to spoil the plot, so I'll wait for others to read the book and hopefully post their thoughts on this thread.

[onlychild]

do have to tell you there is a chapter near the end about our own Kevin Saucier that will give anyone who collects high grade slabbed cards a good case of the heebie jeebies.

Had to be the unflattering picture made while recovering from surgery #1 and two days before surgery #2. Was fubar during our time together.

To top it off, Dave Jamieson is just an all around nice guy and a terrific human being...smart, humble, inquisitive with strong writing ethics. Every collector will learn something from it. After reading my copy, I realized my true hobby ignorance. Even a better reason to buy the book.

Kevin

[barrysloate]

Kevin- I enjoyed the chapter about you a lot. There's even a color picture of you in the book. Dave interviewed me over the phone and he was a gentleman. And he writes really well. This book isn't a hack job but a very careful and well written look at our hobby. Possibly it's the best book of its kind.

Kevin- does "fubar" mean something? One of our members has that as his username, and I have no idea what it means.

[onlychild]

Barry,

Many thanks Barry, tried my best to make it an accurate and informative interview without it being a tell-all. As I've always said, tough to do with that subject. Dave must of had a hard time writing that chapter, deciding what to print and what to hold back. When I saw the rough copy...he nailed it the first time!

I'm reading it for the third time. Seems I always catch something new or missed.

Yeah I saw the pic..not the best by far. FUBAR = F'ed up Beyond All Recognition. We used it in the military, plus it was made popular in Saving Private Ryan as well.


Kevin

[Kawika]

SNAFU = Situation Normal, All F'ed Up
TARFU = Things Are Really F'ed Up
FUBAR = F'ed Up Beyond All Recognition

[barrysloate]

Thanks guys, I'm completely in the dark with these abbreviations. The only one I know is MILF.

[Bicem]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

The only one I know is MILF.

What does that mean Barry?

[barrysloate]

edited for double post

[barrysloate]

I can't say on the board...it's x-rated. It was a joke.

[Bicem]

I know, just thought it was funny coming from you.

[barrysloate]

Am I such a prude?

[mark evans]

Thanks for the recommendation, Barry.

Mark

[WillowGrove]

After reading this entire thread I wanted to note that it had a beautifully poetic ryhtym to it. Go back and read it from the top - you'll see.

Starting with barry's intial entry where he seemed to stop reading mid-setence to tell us about the book - to some obervations on the diligence of the book's author - followed by a risque yet quite innocent MILF reference that includes someone who I think is an ex-MLer.

And all culminating with me utilizing the Amazon link to order the book.

thanks for a great forum everyone.

peter

[Bicem]

Just finished the first two chapters, really, really well written. All collectors should read this.

[E93]

I read the first chapter and Burdick chapter. Highly recommended. Of what I have read so far, he has done some very good research and an excellent job. It is nice to have this kind of history of our hobby in print.
JimB

[Mrc32]

I ordered it this morning.

[insidethewrapper]

Just received my copy of"Mint Condition" today from Amazon. I question the following stat " 81 billion cards were produced per year at it's peak " and then sales at $ 1.2 billion are quoted. It doesn't add up to me. Even adding all the sets that year my estimate is more like "8-10" billion cards. Even a 100,000 cases of wax would only account for about 1 billion cards. So even 1 million cases would be 10 billion range. Any other comments on the figure stated in the book ? thanks

[drc]

Seems like an evenhanded history of the industry from the origins, with nice bios and photos of numerous key players-- Burdick etc. Shows the good and the bad, highs and lows, but is not a scandal sheet, like the Daily News book.

[GoldenAge50s]

To save starting another book thread, there was an Editorial column last week in my Prov Journal by the Author about his new book "Fifty-Nine in '84" about Old Hoss Radbourn & the Providence Greys that should interest many of you.

The column provides an interesting preview:

http://www.projo.com/opinion/columni...1.3f8ccc0.html

[Vol]

Is their a good book out there with alot of good info on all of the Pre-War cards? Any suggestions?

Cannot wait for the T-206 book in June, but would like a good book on other sets that are out there.

Thanks a lot.

[mark evans]

"Mint Condition" is favorably reviewed in the current (April) issue of Washingtonian, a popular magazine regarding goings-on in D.C. The author Jamieson is a local writer.

Hope to see all in Baltimore.

[oldjudge]

The book incorrectly states that the majority of photographs for the Old Judge set were taken by Jos Hall. I'm not sure where this tidbit came from. Otherwise, it is OK. Not great, just OK.

[donmuth]

Did anyone else hear the interview with the author of Mint Condition on NPR yesterday afternoon? Unfortunately, I got a phone call from work about 1 minute into the story and missed most of it. I guess I'll try to listen to it off the NPR website.

[celoknob]

If someone finds the link to the interview, could you please post it. I couldn't find it on the NPR site.

[ullmandds]

i just happened to catch the last minute or so discussing the glut of cards produced in the 80's causing a dramatic shift in the way and reasons why people buy them...I'd love to hear the whole thing.

[Anthony S.]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

The book incorrectly states that the majority of photographs for the Old Judge set were taken by Jos Hall. I'm not sure where this tidbit came from. Otherwise, it is OK. Not great, just OK.

There's a quote on pg 21 that states that Hall was "the company's primary photographer," but I don't think Jamieson ever says Hall took the majority of the photos.

[drc]

To VolNVegas: The Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards (Krause Publications/Sports Collectors Digest) checklists and describes most of the 19th century baseball cards. Also, Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards by Lew Lipset is a history of Pre-War cards

[onlychild]

If someone finds the link to the interview

Here you go:

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/d...eball-cards-q/


Kevin

[oldjudge]

There is no evidence that I or Joe Gonsowski know of that indicates that Jos Hall was Goodwin & Co's primary photographer. If someone knows otherwise I would appreciate the information. Also Anthony, wouldn't it follow that the company's primary photographer took a significant portion of the images used in the set? Who was he shooting images of--Ebineezer Goodwin in the bathtub?

[Anthony S.]

Jay, I'm not dippy enough to debate any point concerning Old Judges with you -- your book is about 4 feet away from me as I type this. I'm an N172 neophyte. I was just drawing the distinct between "most" and the author's use of "primary." Didn't realize that Jamieson's characterization of Hall as the primary photographer was incorrect. I tend to jump around your book, which I think is fantastic, and haven't read the parts about the photographers, yet.

[oldjudge]

Anthony--There is an appendix in the back of the book which details the photographers that we know of who took part in the Old Judge set, along with which teams they took photographs of. While Jos Hall may have taken some images, we have yet to definitively identify them as the photographer of a specific image.

[Anthony S.]

Cool. Pg 452. Found it. Thanks, Jay.

[ullmandds]

kevin...thanks for the link...not worth the time and effort to hear...i'll have to get the book!!!

[toppcat]

Just finished Mint Condition, quite an enjoyable read even if there are a few misfires (mostly harmless) on some points. The author did a nice job on the Sy Berger and Woody Gelman chapters, developing information I had not seen previously. Another worthy addition to my fifty foot hobby shelf!

[jp1216]

Just preordered my T206 book today. Can't wait. Picked up a free SMR at the Strongsville show last weekend and read about the new book - love it already...