I was asked to help her clean out the attic crawl space, but I had so much fun up there that I just did it all myself. By the time I was done more than four hours had passed, and I swear it only felt like two. The attic was my sports card and memorabilia room, before I moved out and my nephews moved in. While the room itself was a mixed bag of my stuff (which is still there) and my nephews', the stuff in the crawl space was all mine. Or so I thought.
The attic room is always hot, especially in summer. I had a bottle of water nearby and an open window ten feet from where I was working. I was sweating and dirty and I couldn't have been happier. Some of the things in that crawl space were a tad embarrassing, but most of them brought back great memories.
I uncovered things that had been buried in there for so long I'd never seen them before. My sister's toy horse collection was strewn about the crawl space. Larger horses were in one box, and glass/porcelain miniatures wrapped in newspaper were buried in the fiberglass. My mom was not going to look past the wooden bars, but I didn't want to leave anything behind. There were some cards and books sticking out of the fiberglass fields, too.
Along the inside wall I found more of my mom's books, at least six boxes worth. I'd barricaded myself inside at one point and called for someone to help move them out of my way. No one heard me, so I pushed them out myself. One of them was an old World Book volume that I wanted to take home (I loved encyclopedias as a kid and I miss them) but I was too concerned with the sports stuff and forgot to bring it. Oh, and I found this:
As soon as I saw it I laughed out loud. Mom, were these my diapers? I'm not sure what a box would cost today but these were $6.99. My sister (who has grandkids now) saw this and joked that Mom should have stocked up on Pampers at that price.
Anyway.. you're not here to see 40 year-old diaper boxes, am I right? You're here for cards. We'll get there.
Among the reading material I found were some record store ads. One was from 1992, when I first started purchasing CDs, watching MTV every day, and checking the Billboard chart whenever I was in a music store.
The funny thing about this particular top 40 chart is that my boss gave me the nickname "Chris cross" when I started working there - and then asked me if I knew who Kris Kross was.
Yep, I knew. He even played "Jump" at full blast one Friday afternoon. We all had a good laugh. He still calls me "Chris cross" sometimes.
This is not mine. Queen released Hot Space in May of 1982, so this flyer has been sitting in the attic for about as long as that diaper box.
Here's a magazine from 1981 with a boy playing baseball on the cover (remember when kids played baseball?) I skimmed through it and found a Quebec tourism ad, which I found funny considering the cover headline of "America, America!"
This was also published in 1981. Apparently I acquired it at a library bookmobile some years later. Take a look at these rankings, it's kind of a time capsule within a time capsule:
Please excuse my scribbles. I scribbled on pretty much everything back then.
I could go on and on about the things I found in the crawl space, and perhaps I will discuss them further in a separate post. But I've made you read enough for now unless you scrolled through just to see the free cards - if so, shame on you! :P
About half of the time spent "cleaning the crawl space" was actually spent sorting through the hundreds of cards scattered on the floor. 90% of them were damaged; I only kept about 30 cards for my own collection. Most of these were overproduction-era singles that weren't worth saving considering their condition. I brought home the rest, in case any of my readers could use some of them.
None of these "time capsule cards" are in near mint-mint condition, but they are free for the claiming. All I ask is that your comment includes more than just your claim (and limit 9 cards per customer, please.) Since I'm giving away cards that would have ended up in the garbage I'll do my best to throw in some more modern cards, in better condition.
Let's start with some oddball items. Here's the Iron Man and Stan The Man:
Along with these Starting Lineup cards I found three figures and the backer board of another figure.
Griffey is one of five Collect-a-books I found. The others were Robin Yount (keeper), Jeff George (damaged, one page had scotch tape across it), Joe Dumars, and Charles Oakley.
Non-sports anyone? There were more salvagable non-sports cards than football, basketball, and hockey cards combined.
Yo! Anyone like old-school hip hop?
Some all-time greats in decent shape...
Some early '80s commons:
And a few notable names:
We'll end this giveaway with the oldest card - and perhaps the most well-loved:
Hardly a historic find, but hopefully some of you can use some of these.
Thanks for reading, and happy 4th!
~
I'll claim the '72 Niekro, Moe Drabowsky, Norm Cash and the Cub above him. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI took Baseball 100 out of my elementary school library many times when I was a kid. I learned a lot about baseball history from it.
DeleteI love seeing the old boxes and flyers and stuff. Would be curious what else like that you have saved. (Maybe even trade cards for some smaller old things you were going to toss?)
I'll set those aside for you. Maybe we can work out a trade for some of the other stuff I brought home. I'll include it in another post.
DeleteThanks so much for doing this. So many memories in that house. Thanks to you Mom for throwing absolutely nothing away!
ReplyDeleteThe 1974 Topps Niekro
The Fleer(?) Kemp & Wilcox
1982 Danny Ainge
The Ric Cerone Topps card( 79 Fopps/)
Happy 4th!
I don't have your address. Oh wait, yes I do... I sent you a Secret Santa gift :/
DeleteDang, can I get the 76 Topps Palmer in place of the 74 Niekro? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt's a '72 Niekro and Bo claimed it.
DeleteThat's a cool discovery. In my youth I tossed a ton of cards in a box and "buried" them in the attic. I have no idea what became of them.
ReplyDeleteI'll claim both Clemens, the UK mini Eddie Murray, the '79 Lee and the '72 Niekro. Thanks!
Whoops Missed out on the Niekro! Popular guy!
DeleteI knew the Niekro would go fast, even with a corner missing. The rest are yours.
DeleteI'd love that Griffey collect-a-book if you aren't keeping it! I used to love those things as a kid but I don't recall ever having any of my own (I would look at my friend's at school).
ReplyDeleteYou got it. I'll see if I have any other Reds/set fillers for you, too.
DeleteHey. Topps Gwynn, Topps Boggs, and Yount Diamond King please.
ReplyDeleteNo Schmidt or Carlton on that list? Humph.
I still don't have your address. Email me (sutherlandct @ gmail)
DeleteI checked the rest of the top 100 and neither of them are there, either. Schmidt was only halfway into his career when the book came out but I'm not sure why Lefty didn't make the list.
Very cool attic finds... especially the diapers.
ReplyDeleteFor Pampers, you're looking at the 15 to 20 dollar range for 48 diapers these days. Rummaging through lost cards in an attic sounds like fun to me!
ReplyDeleteSo they've tripled in price over 40 years. That's not too bad, actually.
DeleteThat must have been a lot of fun, and probably very warm dig. You listing those diapers Haha
ReplyDeleteI love cleaning out stuff! Sounds like great fun. I knew there were free cards at the end of the post but just kept reading.
ReplyDeleteI do remember that Maury Allen's Baseball's 100 book, probably leafed through it back then at some point. The '92 Billboard chart makes me sad as that's right when top 40 music "turned".
I thought you would appreciate the non-card items in the post. Thanks for reading!
DeleteI've always wondered about how cool it would've been to have an attic. I've lived in a condo my whole life, so any "lost treasures" I may own are basically relegated to the small closet in my room.
ReplyDeleteIf it's still available, can I claim the 3-D Mike Scioscia? Much thanks!
It was fun to have an attic room to display my collection. I miss it, but it did get hot up there in the summer. Scioscia is set aside for you. Thanks again for the FSF PWE!
Delete$2.99 for a cassette single and $4.99 for a 12-inch are the sale prices? Man, we're spoiled by digital music! Cool to see that playlist though. And the record club envelope with the Queen and Air Supply logos. That would be fun to look through.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have the Strawberry Starting Lineup, but don't spend a stamp on it! Just hold it for next time if it's not too much trouble. Thanks.
I'll set aside the Straw and mail out a PWE when I have more Mets cards to add. And I'll scan up the record club catalog along with the other crawl space finds in a future post.
DeleteUnless I missed it, I don't think anyone has claimed the '68 Twins card. I'll take that one and the Rite-Aid Reggie, if available.
ReplyDeleteKris Kross was my first ever concert. I went "totally krossed out."
No one claimed the '68 Twins card or the Reggie. I will need your address though. My email is above.
DeleteCool TMNT and MTV raps!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'd like that Francona
ReplyDeleteGoing through old stuff like that is always fun. I basically have all the stuff that was mine from our old house since my dad moved a while back.
I'll set it aside for you but it will have to wait until I have more Jays/Expos to send you.
DeleteNo problem. I'd rather make it worthwhile lol
DeleteThis was an awesome read! I sometimes wish that my parents still lived in the house I grew up in. There was an unfinished basement(that never flooded) where I stashed boxes of cardboard until I moved out. I'm pretty sure I took all of them when I left, but who knows what I might have found?
ReplyDeleteI'd love the Teresa Edwards, Double Dragon, Michaelangelo, Vanilla Ice, and Hammer please.
You got it.
DeleteGreat story and pictures! Going through the attic at mom's house and finding old trading cards is exactly how I got back into the hobby a few years ago. Nowadays my little nephew likes going up there on "adventures", as he calls them. We keep him away from the fiberglass sections, though.
ReplyDeleteAs for the cards, I wouldn't mind having the Rite Aid Frank Viola, the 1981 Fleer Carney Lansford, and the Topps Glossy Dave Winfield if they're still available.
Thanks for yet another act of generosity!
I'll set them aside for you. It's awesome that an attic find got you back into the hobby. Thanks for reading!
Delete