I found some of my earliest bank records (checks etc) which escaped being thrown out over the past 50 years. A lot of great early hobby names and a few stories buried among them!

These checks above are made out to Charlie Burkhardt of Topton, Pennsylvania. Charlie was one of the great hobbyists of the early to mid 1970s on. He was one of the most important pillars of the collecting world to me as a kid. Charlie worked at a high school (I think he was a guidance counselor among other responsibilities) but in the early 1970s he became fascinated with baseball memorabilia collecting as a hobby. 
 
At this time there was no internet. There were hardly any conventions. Phone calls were a fortune. But Charlie lived near one of the world’s largest and most exciting flea markets: the famous Renningers Antique Market in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. Renningers was a magnet for quality dealers, and quality antiques and collectibles in these early days. There was no eBay back then so it provided an extremely valuable and exciting venue for thousands of collectibles enthusiasts. 
 
Dealers would start setting up at the crack of dawn, sometimes literally at 5:00 AM.  Few baseball collectors could possibly get to Renningers at all due to geography, let alone get there that early. But Charlie had no problem getting there the moment it opened  every Sunday (the only day Renningers was open). His great knowledge and social skills combined with his dedication paid incredible dividends. He practically OWNED Renningers as far as baseball cards and memorabilia were concerned. He was there to get first shot at everything, week in, week out. Dealers could count on him. Charlie was always very fair and a pleasure to deal with, and many dealers would steer others to him, or even save items of potential interest to be sure to show Charlie first (not that he wasn’t there first anyway, but Renningers was a big place). 
 
Renningers was a HUGE market at this time, with hundreds of dealers set up both in a giant outside area and in a giant indoor facility. Competition for quality baseball material was fierce among the few who figured out that Renningers was a practically magical potential source of noteworthy vintage items. But, armed with an incredible work ethic, being a pleasure to do business with, a genuine enthusiasm for collecting and an ability to be there at 5:00 AM, Charlie had a great advantage. He rarely missed out on anything. 

I couldn’t drive so I could never go to Renningers (not that I would have ever found anything good before Charlie anyway!) but I had the wisdom to call Charlie to find out what he found (most of which was available for sale) religiously every Sunday. I didn’t get to go to Renningers but I felt like I went every week. It was very exciting and I bought countless items from Charlie on a regular basis. I never knew what he was going to come up with and of course neither did he. It was a treasure hunt every Sunday. I can’t imagine I wasn’t his biggest customer in these early days. I’d buy just about anything quality, and Charlie only bought quality items. He knew what was good. I couldn’t wait for Charlie to get back from Renningers every Sunday. Sometimes I’d call too early (probably more than once some Sundays; I didn’t know any better) and have to call back. Sometimes I’d catch him literally as he was walking in the door (hopefully with arms full of “stuff” to describe and offer on the phone).
 
The checks above are just two from countless deals with Charlie. I look at the dates and almost can’t believe I even had a checking account at this early date. 1974? I was literally only 13 years old and in like 7th grade! And  the amounts of these checks ($100 and $180)…this was real money in 1974. 
 
Seriously, it’s hard for people to understand today but very few people threw around hundreds of dollars on baseball cards in the early 1970s. I didn’t realize this at the time. I was too busy buying and selling and learning and collecting. And because I was doing this 24/7, I pretty much did ten times more than what anyone else was doing. And because I was using the phone (even though it cost a fortune), doing it more efficiently than anyone had ever done before in the history of baseball card collecting. But I didn’t know this or give it any thought. I was too busy! Though really I didn't have anything to compare to what I did. I think I thought every collector spent all their time working on collecting. (We are all born knowing nothing. I was way ahead of the curve when it came to buying, selling, and learning about baseball cards but what did I know about the world? Not much! That came later and I'm still learning!) 
 
In the memo field of these two checks is the notation “Tattoo Orbits”.  These checks were just a couple of many more payments for one of Charlie’s great card finds at Renningers. Before 1974 1933 Tattoo Orbits baseball cards (catalogued R305 in the American Card Catalog) were almost non-existent in the organized card collecting world. I remember looking at the catalog entry in the ACC and thinking “Would I ever be able to find and buy or trade for even ONE R305 Tattoo Orbit? Would I ever even be able to see one?”

I knew they were out there - they existed - but they were like a unicorn. Mythical due to extreme rarity. 

One day Charlie came back from Renningers and had a group of Tattoo Orbits, which was astoundingly incredible enough. But he was even more excited about the additional Tattoo Orbit cards he did not get, because the dealer did not bring them all. Charlie hoped to get the balance of them shortly. Allegedly hundreds of Tattoo Orbits! There are only 60 cards to the set so there would be multiple sets. It sounded too good to be true. But it was true. These were not being sold for a song, however. Charlie was paying real money, both because he was a gentleman who was always fair in his dealings, and because this approach had the added benefit of practically ensuring that he would not be “scooped” by competition. 
 
I was extremely enthusiastic about buying any and all. I think I eventually bought every single Tattoo Orbit card from the find (if not all, just about all). I knew these cards were special and, frankly, to me CARDS were valuable…money had no value to me. Except to buy cards and to pay the expenses involved in finding and buying cards. (What else would I do with money? At this age, nothing!) 
 
The hundreds of Tattoo Orbit cards only made so many sets (I’m guessing 15 sets but can’t remember exactly). And there were lots of extra singles and partial sets too. All quickly found homes. I think I was paying a few dollars a card at the time which may have risen to a higher level as supply dwindled (whatever Charlie wanted, that’s what I paid. He was always fair.) The cards were all in what was then considered practically perfect condition. Today grading companies look at cards more harshly (even high grade cards) but these were all uncirculated cards in top shape. Almost all (maybe literally all) of the beautiful, crisp, clean high grade 1933 Tattoo Orbit cards in the hobby today originate from this incredible single Charlie Burkhardt Renningers find. 
 
This was just one of countless great finds by Charlie Burkhardt. His name was not well known nationally but in Pennsylvania (which was a hotbed of collecting), he was a legend and one of the all time early organized hobby greats. Thank you, Charlie Burkhardt, for making the early days of the hobby so much more exciting for me and for so many others! 
 
I have quite a few old checks to look through and I’m sure many other noteworthy early hobby names and stories are in there. I like this format and will look to find more to post. 
 
I hope you have enjoyed reading this post as much as I have enjoyed writing it!
 
 
Robert Lifson