I suppose millions have a story like this, but everytime I think of it, it still hurts. Around 1959 when I was about 12 my Dad was cleaning out the garage one autumn day.
He came upon my brothers and my 500 or so baseball cards...some going back to my Dad’s original collection in the 1930s...he said “you guys don’t want this junk anymore, do you”?
He was burning fall leaves...and threw the cards on top the fire.
I want to cry just thinking about it.
I once had a fairly good collection around 1956 or 57. I have no idea what ever happened to them. Things like that just seem to disappear. Probably no valuable ones anyway.
So the guy takes his collection to the Pawn Stars, asks for five grand for the whole lot, and Big Hoss says, “I dunno, lemme see what the Old Man says.”
I am so stinkin’ jealous of everybody who has an attic. There is always the possibility of finding something special in one.
I never will get over my Mom tossing out my GI Joe collection. Bless her soul, but she was clueless in that area.
When I was a kid in the early 60’s we had a big moving box filled with “old” BBCards. We used to stand in the alley and get another kid to “pour” the box of cards down on us and pretend it was raining. What I wouldn’t give to have that box today.
A friend of mine wouldn’t speak to his mother for years after he found out she burned his baseball cards. I didn’t have many baseball cards, but I sold my large comic book collection for a penny apiece when I was in high school for gas money.
As for those pawn shop shows, they’re scripted fakes, like all “reality” shows.
Why yes, I know Carl. My grand daddy gave him a base ball card collection to store but grand daddy died before he could get it back.
Most of my baseball cards found their way into the spokes of my bicycle......