My Oldest Collectibles

In my last post I talked about my oldest baseball card set. Since reaction was so strong, I decided to continue that theme in this post.

My oldest Matchbox collectible is from 1954. It is the #6A Euclid Quarry Truck. Here is the truck along with its hard to find "Script" box. Only the first 7 Matchbox models issued had the word "Moko" in script lettering.

This truck is a mere child in age compared to my oldest baseball collectible. My oldest baseball card is from 1914. Its not really a card but a felt like cloth square. This is the card of Fred Snodgrass of the New York Giants. Fred was born in 1887 and played in the major leagues for seasons, making his debut on June 4m 1908. He played in 3 World Series with the Giants before ending his career with the Boston Braves. Fred passed away in 1974. Here is his card.

1951 Topps Red Back Set

The 1951 Topps Red Back set is my oldest complete set of baseball cards.

In 1951, Topps issued their first baseball cards. There were two sets of 52 cards, the red back set and the blue back set. The cards were packaged two to a pack for a penny. There was also a piece of carmel included which many times either melted or was squashed to damage the cards. Here is a wrapper from the set.

The cards could be used to play a baseball game as each one had a different outcome of a plate appearance. The cards were smaller than the standard card size of today. Here is the front and back of a card from the set. This card is of N. Y. Yankee great and Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto.

Even though the red back set is made up of 52 cards, there are actually 54 in the complete set. Two cards were issued in two different variations. Here is card #36, Gus Zernial. The first card has his team as Chicago and the second lists his team as Philadelphia.

Finally, the last card in the set, #52 Tommy Holmes, has him as a player with Boston, the first card, or as the Hartford manager, the second card.

Fill er Up!

It's a busy early Saturday afternoon in the center of town.

Trucks are making their deliveries. Time to gas up before going out for the day.

Of coarse, at the Matchbox Garage, gas is cheap and plentiful. The attendant is friendly and knows you by name. He cleans not only your front windshield but the rear window as well! He checks your oil and brings the dipstick over to your window to show you you are a quart low.

Once you are all set at the filling station, it's one last quick stop at he Mom and Pop store next door for some snacks for the road and then off on an adventure!

1964 Topps Baseball Cards

The 1964 Topps Baseball Card set consists of 587 cards. The above picture is a wrapper that the cards came in.

The cards are easy to sort by team as the top of each card has the team name in large block lettering.

The backs of many of the cards had a trivia question. You got the answer to the question by rubbing the white area to reveal the answer. Here is the card of Jom Bouton, #470 in the set. I had this card autographed by Jim when I met him at a baseball ccard show.

Here is a card of #302, Dan Pfister. I went to high school with Dan's cousin. This is the first card of him alone. He appeared in the 1963 set on a rookie card with other players.

This is card #550 of Ken Hubbs. The all star player tragically died in a plane crash in February 1964. Topps printed his card as a memorial to him.

Here is the best card from the set. Apparently Topps had some problems with numbers. Check out the back of Dave Bennett's card. It says "The 19-year old righthanded curveballer is just 18 years 0ld!"