Cards with "the olds"

 

A lot of collectors are into really old cards. The older the better.

There are pre-war collectors and tobacco card enthusiasts. I see several of them on Twitter almost every day, showing off their latest, all very impressive.

But outside of marveling at how ancient they are, those cards don't do much for me.

I'm not into collecting 120-year-old cards. I just can't relate to it.

I won't kick cards like that out of the house, obviously, but over the years it's been one consistent theme in my collecting habits. I don't have many really old cards or think about obtaining others. There are so many cards, more recent stuff, that I want more.

For example, my favorite thing to do is pick up cards that were around when I was a kid. I've been doing that for the last 20 years or so, probably longer. People say there weren't that many cards in the 1970s, what with the Topps monopoly. I beg to differ. Because I'm still trying to get cards from that time and I don't see a finishing line.

So if that's my main quest, I'm never going to get to cards from the 19th century.

However, Comatoad on Cards has asked a question: What's your oldest card?

Some people have already answered. I'll give it a go, too, although I've written a couple of posts about this already. The most recent one was 2014 and things haven't changed much.

These are my oldest cards. They're both 1909 T206's. I received each from other collectors. The vast majority of my really old cards have come from other collectors -- because, like I said, I'm still stuck in the '70s.

This will give you an idea:

 

This is the oldest card I've ever purchased. Well, this and a couple of other 1951 Topps Dodgers. I bought them last year.

Before that, the oldest card I ever bought was a 1953 Topps Pee Wee Reese. All the '52 Topps Dodgers sitting in my binder came from other people.

This has everything to do with the cards I saw as a kid and a teenager. I coveted older cards, but only the ones that I saw, which were from the '50s and '60s. Stuff like Play Ball and Goudey just seemed way too old to me and I rarely saw them advertised. Yeah, what can I say. I've said this before, but I don't watch a lot of black & white movies either.

Speaking of which, here's a black & white screen star now.

This is the oldest nonsports card in my collection. Collector and reader Dave sent it to me about six years ago. This is Claire Windsor, a star of silent movies in the 1920s. The card is a 1923 American Caramel Actors and Actresses card. Pretty cool.

 

My oldest football card is from 1961 Fleer. Another gift from a collector.

 

My oldest basketball cards are from 1972-73 Topps. A tremendous design. I think everyone knows that.

 

My oldest hockey cards are from 1972-73 Topps as well. They happen to be every member of the French Connection, including the recently departed Rene Robert.

These cards line up nicely across the top of one page in my Sabres binder.

I've addressed this before, too. My oldest night card is from 1950 Bowman, Marino Pieretti.

 

My oldest photographed night card is the Browns' Don Lenhardt from 1953 Bowman.

 

My oldest duplicate is from 1955 Bowman, a miscut Carl Erskine card. This is a recent arrival. It came with the last card I needed to finish the '55 Bowman Dodgers set, Charlie Neal.

So, that's about it. That's what I have that's "oldest." With the exception of the 1909 cards and a couple early '20s American Caramel baseball cards, it's fairly average. It's just not a priority in my collection.

Maybe it's because I feel like I have "the olds" all the time these days. I don't want my poor cards to feel that way.