A memory and a story of renewed interest in this hobby of ours!

[whitehse]

I may have mentioned this before (ok...maybe a few times) that one of my biggest collecting regrets happened when I was a third grader at Immanuel Lutheran School in the far Northwest suburbs of Chicago. The time would have been around 1974 and the setting would be old Mrs. Bickel's drafty third grade class room that had old, faded paint on the walls and chalk boards all around. It was in this class room that a collecting memory was burned into my young brain, never to be forgotten.

It was known to all of my classmates that I was a huge baseball fan and had a passion, even at that young age for collecting baseball cards. It was not unusual for a friend to bring in a card or two that they found in their attic and give it to me for my ever growing collection. This memory was on a fall day, right after the World Series had ended that a classmate walked into the room at the start of our day and handed me a large brown shopping bag. With a very matter of fact voice she said I could have whatever was inside and quickly made her way to her desk. I eagerly opened the bag and my jaw dropped to my cold, wooden desk with a thud. Inside this bag were treasures I had never before laid eyes on. Hundreds of baseball cards thrown haphazardly into a bag with little regard for condition. Cards that were bigger in size than any I have ever seen were now in my hands with names I could only recognize from the baseball history books I had read. There was Maglie, Berra, Thompson and some guy named Shoendienst who I knew as Red. Included in the bunch were also guys named Aaron, Banks and some guy named Mantle. I could not believe my luck that someone had decided they no longer wanted these treasures and had thought enough and passed them on to me.

In all my excitement I failed to realize the final bell had rung, and my entire class was now seated in their desks. I was oblivious to what was happening around me and never saw my elderly teacher standing at the front of the class, taking attendance. With my head still firmly in the brown paper bag I felt a tap on the shoulder which would quickly bring me back to reality. As I looked up to see who could possibly be ruining this incredible moment I realized it was the teacher who apparently did not like baseball cards nearly as much as I did. I could tell my good fortune was not high on her priority list by the frown on her face and her stern voice when she asked what I was doing. As I tried to explain my point of view, her old, boney hand reached out and grabbed by treasured bag and brought it to her desk where I could hear it hit the bottom of her desk drawer with a resounding flop. They were gone....all gone. Mickey, Yogi and Red were now in my teachers desk lost forever. I was consumed with getting those cards back in my hands but it was never to happen. The years have diminished my memory and for the life of me I cannot remember why I never got the cards back. I can only guess and think that maybe because my school was literally and old school religious school where you never questioned the teacher and I was too afraid to ask. I would have never mentioned the loss to my parents as they would have probably kicked my back side for not paying attention in class anyway and would never blame the teacher for something I did. Either way those cards are long gone but forever burned into my memory. I loved them for the nostalgia they represented and for the memory they gave me. I vowed that, one day, I would put that set together and relieve that third grade nightmare I still have vivid memories of.

In late 2014 I saw someone on the the Net54 boards advertising a small lot of '55 Bowman's at a decent price. I knew this was now the time to start putting the nightmare to rest and the seller and I had quickly worked out a deal. As it turned out the cards I purchased were cards that were recently found at a garage sale and their only owner opened the packs as a third grader and put them aside for decades before selling them this past summer. The cards were even sold in the original Phillies cigar box from that same time frame where these new treasures rested all these years. After hearing this I knew this set was meant for me.

I then purchased another lot from another Net54 board member who graciously held onto the lot and allowed me to make lay-a-away payments on several occasions for other lots he had. I have even made a few more purchases from Ebay and have found a renewed interest in collecting that had once escaped me. No shiny refractors or numbered parallels for me. Just musty smelling cardboard with a colored television border and names I had long ago forgotten, staring back at me. Andy, Yogi and yes, even Mickey. Hello old friends. Where ya been?

Thank you for indulging me on this journey and please feel free to look at my photo bucket slide show to see my progress.


http://s651.photobucket.com/user/phl...aseball?sort=9