Lots of positive feedback on the last post and even heard from another fake CDV victim who found this blog (He is trying to get his money back...my guess is he will be successful).

Interesting follow-up to the CDV forger story:

In the weeks after my June 11, 2024 forgery CDV forgery purchase (and subsequent refund), I checked in on the eBay account to see what the seller was up to. The CDV forgery business was good…one after another after another, he was making sales left and right. A few hundred here, a few hundred there...nothing in the thousands but they were adding up pretty good.

In addition, he also had a cottage business selling forgeries of valuable business cards on the same account. There are collectors who will gladly pay hundreds of dollars for early business cards of business icons such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. I can understand why. They are an interesting and very personal link to the pioneer days of business leaders who changed the world. Collectors just want them to be real. But, of course, business cards can easily be forged. If one did not know what to look for, just like with the fake CDVs, collectors could easily be fooled. Many have been.

In just a few weeks, thousands of dollars of additional forgeries were sold by the account. With no end in sight. Though I was not expecting anything to come of it, I did take the time to mention the situation and provide the information I had to a member of law enforcement. For potential future reference if nothing else. I also submitted feedback on eBay detailing that the CDV I bought was a fake. My feedback was not published either because I received a refund, or because my text comments warning others of forgeries were accompanied by a “neutral” rating instead of a “negative” rating. This may have been deemed inconsistent. Text and rating are supposed to be consistent. I went with a “neutral” feedback rating simply because I assumed a negative would be removed upon seller request because I received an immediate refund. (I thought I could justify a neutral rating by pointing out that I did receive an immediate refund...and noting that the packing was very good (packing is one of the metrics of ratings on eBay). I think these positives were (understandably) overshadowed by pointing out that the seller was intentionally selling forgeries as real to cheat collectors.
   
Checking back another couple weeks later…I found that numerous negative feedbacks from other victims were suddenly successfully published! AND, even more interesting, the seller’s account was completely frozen! The account's last sale on eBay was August 7, 2024. After that, nothing. The account suddenly had no items for sale. Also interesting, when I go the original listing page of the forgery I was bought, it still indicates that the seller has 30 other items for sale. But he doesn’t. They have all been removed. I believe by eBay. Though I don’t know exactly how it happened. Maybe law enforcement got involved. Maybe so many complaints were being accumulated by eBay for proper review that when they finally did review the situation, they took action. Maybe both. But SOMETHING happened! The account is no longer cheating collectors by selling forgeries.
 
Below are screenshots of some of the suddenly-there negative feedbacks, and a screenshot of how the account looks now for items available for sale.  

I just had an interesting experience on eBay that I thought I should document here in the hope of potentially helping collectors from being cheated, and for entertainment as a crazy eBay story.
 
By chance I happened to see this item pop up on eBay just when it was listed:

The item is a very rare circa 1861 Jefferson Davis CDV that is one of the few - and best - period ephemera items issued that commemorate and celebrate the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as the President of the Confederacy. There are no “campaign” items that read “Jefferson Davis for President” (as there was no Confederate election). But the elaborate design of this CDV featuring Davis’ portrait, surrounded by “The Right Man in The Right Place” and “Our First President” slogans, has the “presence” of a campaign item and is about as close as it gets for Jefferson Davis. 
 
The seller had this up for auction with a minimum bid of $99 and at the same time also offered a “make offer” option. I already had a great example of this CDV. I bought it many years ago and I have always been impressed by its historical significance. I think of it as a $2000 item (plus or minus, this is just a ballpark) and in my opinion it is an outstanding collecting value relative to its extreme rarity, historical significance, and display value.
 
Back to the eBay Jefferson Davis CDV: This particular example looked a little “light” in places, which is not typical for CDVs. But quality can vary with early photographs. This certainly didn’t help the desirability and value but it wasn’t the end of the world. 
 
In addition: Mount styles for different examples of the same CDV photo can vary occasionally. The mount of this CDV often (but not always) has a “Quimby Photographic Artists” of Charleston, South Carolina imprint or paper label on the reverse. This example had a blank back. And the perimeter of the front of the mount had a printed lined border that other examples I had seen did not. But CDV mounts can and do vary due to being produced over a period of time (during which the studio may have intentionally made changes), or due to being legitimately produced or even “pirated” by another studio, and no doubt even due to supplies of a mount style simply running out during a production run and being replaced with a mount style that is a little different. 

I wasn’t thinking it was a fake. But you never know and I was very aware of the possibility. In my experience to date, encountering the scam of selling fake CDVs as authentic has been rare.

Giving authenticity the benefit of the doubt, I sent in an offer for $400. That was a very safe level (as long as it was authentic of course) even if the photo was slightly flawed (referring to the lightness of contrast on part). I didn’t expect the $400 offer to be accepted, even though it was 400% of the minimum bid. It’s a very rare and valuable CDV. The “worst” that could happen is that the seller would say no. And perhaps send a counteroffer worth considering. 
 
Within MINUTES, that’s exactly what happened: a counteroffer was received, offering the CDV to me for $650. My $400 offer was not enough for the seller but $650 was OK. I was surprised as this still sounded extremely reasonable. For $650 I decided I would be happy to have an extra for trade or resale. So I bought it. And even though the eBay title of the lot specifically described it as, and therefore guaranteed it be, an original 1860s CDV, I thought no harm in verifying with the seller, which I did. 
 
In response to my message, the seller wrote back that he bought it at an estate sale. In an old photo album with other photos. And that the person whose estate was being sold was a longtime collector of all kinds of antiques. I communicated back that sounded great (which it did) and added that, in any event, I would certainly know if it was authentic or not upon receipt. (Because, while anyone can be fooled and I am always learning, I have been doing this for 50 years and have great confidence in my general knowledge of Americana). 
 
On Friday June 14, 2024 the “Jefferson Davis CDV” arrived. Very well packed. The first millisecond I saw it in person, still in a semi-rigid plastic holder, I was instantly on high alert. It looked very close to an authentic CDV. I think most would have not given it a second thought. It was that good.

But something was not right. 
 
I took it out of the holder. The surface of the photo did not feel right. It was different than any other CDV I have handled (and I have handled hundreds if not thousands).  Even the mount didn’t feel right. Rather than get out a magnifying glass or black light, I next felt the thickness of the photo on the mount. Just by lightly running my thumb from the border to the photo. It was too thick. I even compared the photo thickness to other CDVs I happened to have handy. The authentic CDV albumen photos that are mounted are very thin. To the touch, the photo mounted on the just-received Jeff Davis CDV was just too thick. I do not believe the Jeff Davis photo was even an albumen print. In short: It was a FAKE. 
 
 
Only five minutes had passed since opening the package. No time or need to panic. Not for one second did I think I was not getting a full refund. The first step in such a case is to request a return via the eBay system. When such a request is made, the reason must be stated. I did not even bother to write the seller in advance to discuss the authenticity issue (which is usually a common courtesy when dealing with unintentional condition or authenticity issues). There was nothing to discuss except when I was getting a refund. 
 
When there is a request for a return and refund on eBay, the seller can “accept” or “reject” the request. If it is accepted, the seller (at the seller’s expense) then sends a prepaid mailing label via eBay for the buyer to print out. Within days of sending the returned item back using this return label, the refund is credited to the buyer’s account. 
 
If the seller does not accept the return, then one can appeal to eBay to resolve the dispute. And if that is not successful (and I think eBay is really very good at properly resolving return disputes from what I’ve seen and heard), of course there are other approaches such as taking legal action. 
 
When I requested the refund…within 60 seconds I received a notice from eBay that the seller has accepted my return! I don’t have much experience returning items purchased on eBay but this has got to be a record. The seller was so quick he barely had time to read the first word in my brief explanation as to why a return was necessary and requested. (That word, in capital letters, was “FAKE.”)
 
 
OK, so I’m fine with the return, and I know that I am getting a full refund with no hassle (once a return is accepted, the seller is committed and eBay makes sure the refund is credited to the buyer). And I have a good eBay story. But I still have questions. I can’t help but wonder what the story is with this card and the seller. It’s not every day that you buy a valuable CDV and instead get a really expertly-made fake designed to fool people that only an advanced collector or expert would be able to identify as a fake. 
 
Did the seller know?  Any seller can accidentally handle a bad item. But there are also crooks out there that do this intentionally. 
 
I sent the package back with the prepaid label on Saturday (the very next day after receiving the fake CDV). When I left the post office, I was thinking about the unanswered questions of this unusual situation, and I thought “Hey, why not check the items the seller has sold in the past” that are still available for reference (a seller's “sold items” on eBay can be searched going back as much as few months). Maybe this would shed more light. 
 
I had already checked the seller’s other currently offered items when I bought the fake Davis. He appeared to be a legitimate seller. In addition to Davis, he even had a few other quality CDVs. None of the others were as good as the Jefferson Davis to me, but all were special in some way to various niche collectors. And all were far better than random CDVs (a large percentage of CDVs that have been produced feature non-famous people from family photo albums and are of very modest value). As an example of a very desirable CDV the seller was also offering, he had a CDV of American abolitionist and Civil Rights icon Sojournor Truth offered at a very reasonable (even with its corners clipped) $599.99, and a highly desirable “trick photo” CDV featuring a “ghost” with a person, offered for $399.99 (occult-related photos are very rare and highly collectable). 
 
Anyone offering such desirable CDVs from different categories, I would presume to have some interest and experience with CDVs. Because the subjects offered would not all be found by chance together. 
 
Back to checking past eBay sales. This is where it gets very interesting. 
 
Below are screenshots of some past eBay offerings and sales by the same seller. Incredibly, his specialty just months ago was.., selling novelty REPLICA CDVs! Fake CDVs! 

I could post more past “Replica CDV” listings from this seller - there are many more - but I think you get the idea.

To properly put this into perspective for those unfamiliar with novelty fake CDV photographs (and novelty fake stereo cards as well), they are an extremely uncommon offering. Of course, there are fakes sold as novelties of just about every kind of collectible imaginable. I don’t personally know any sellers of novelty CDV fakes but over the years I have occasionally run across fakes (almost always baseball players and teams) that sellers have tried to pass off as real. 
 
The fake Jeff Davis CDV seller had clearly communicated a provenance story (that sounded very plausible) that he found it in an album with other CDVs at an estate sale. And yet, just months earlier he was selling dozens of “Replica CDVs” of extremely desirable 1860s subjects for less than $10 each, which if authentic would be worth many hundreds to many thousands of dollars each. 
 
What are the odds? 
 
There are Eight Billion people on earth! My guess is fewer than 20 of these Eight Billion people have a side business selling individually-made historic novelty replica CDV photos. What are the odds that this person, who was a seller of properly identified novelty “Replica CDVs,” would also by chance be the very same person who would happen to buy the fake Jefferson Davis CDV in an old CDV album at an estate sale?  
 
Answer: NOT VERY GOOD! 
 
 
I was going to close this right story here...but I  had yet ANOTHER thought that came to me that I thought might shed MORE light. This is just how my mind works. I can’t help it! It’s a curse and a blessing. 
 
As noted, authentic examples of the Jefferson Davis “Right Man In The Right Place” CDV are VERY rare. To make a fake, a forger of course would have to have access to an original (or to a photo of an original) to copy. Where would a forger find such an example? There are only approximately five authentic examples that I have seen in person or seen illustrated in books or auction catalogs over the past 50 years. There could easily be more in museums or hidden away in advanced collections. Several of these five examples I am familiar with have quality images online and in printed auction catalogs. The albumen photo portions (distinguishing the photo portion of the CDV from the mount) of four of them (one has writing on the photo so its not that one) are in Excellent condition, so one might assume that looking up these CDVs might not actually help identify the source of the image used to make the fake (even if one was the image used). A quick glance at the several catalog auction images would certainly give this impression.

HOWEVER…upon extremely close inspection, with many collectibles there are often very small condition issues or imperfections that are unique to each example.
 
So I looked closely at photos of the fake eBay CDV to see if there were any small identifying flaws that I could then look for on the authentic examples, that would prove exactly what illustration of an authentic Davis CDV photo was used as the “model” for the fake. 
 
There are only a few originals to check so I knew this would be a very quick search. 
 
Below is a closeup image of the lower right portion of the "Jefferson Davis eBay Fake." Note the tiny dark dots that can be seen upon close inspection. These are not supposed to be there. The small dots are a condition flaw. There are other additional but more subtle condition flaws in the form of small areas of slight darkening in places (for example, at the edge of the photo in the upper right, probably from exposure to a little moisture), but these are more difficult to illustrate with enlarged photos here, and unnecessary as the dark dots and their respective placements are so distinctive and easy to see with an enlarged photo online.   

ABOVE: DETAIL PHOTO OF THE EBAY FAKE DAVIS CDV. THE DARK DOTS IN THE LOWER RIGHT ARE AN IDENTIFYING IMPERFECTION.

Within two minutes of looking… I found this original authentic example which sold at Heritage Auctions for $2,187.50 on June 22, 2019: 

BINGO! This is the image of the original used to make the fake Davis CDV on eBay! 

Just for good measure, here's a closeup of the lower right of the authentic Heritage Auctions example that was used to make the fake on eBay:

Because I was making so much progress so quickly, for fun I decided to also look at the Sojourner Truth CDV that was sold by the same eBay seller on June 14, 2024. Could this also be a fake? One can’t tell from the image presented on eBay, which sold for $599.99 (which in my opinion, based on comparison with other sales, is very reasonable). Here's a screenshot:

I noted that the CDV mount (the sturdy card backing upon which the thin albumen photo is mounted) did have condition issues. The corners were clipped, which is not uncommon with CDVs, and the bottom border of the mount was completely clipped away. This is also not uncommon. 
 
On originals of this Sojourner Truth CDV, the lower portion of the mount under the mounted photo was produced with preprinted text identifying Sojourner Truth in large letters under the quote (in smaller type) “I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance.” 

Above is an image of the “eBay Sojourner Truth CDV” offered by "our eBay seller." There are quite a few Sojourner Truth CDVs known so I was not confident that I would be able to prove this was a fake just by looking at online images of originals. There are so many. But I thought since the fake Jefferson Davis CDV was copied from Heritage Auctions, perhaps I would find this Sojourner Truth at Heritage Auctions in the very same way.  
 
I noted that the “eBay Sojourner Truth CDV” did have one unique but subtle flaw that, if it was also a fake, would show up on the authentic Sojourner Truth used to make the fake: In the upper right section of the background area of the photo, above but slightly toward the left of the flowers on the table below, there is a whitish “boomerang shaped” abrasion to the sepia background. Not a big deal in terms of a condition flaw, and hardly noticeable. But it’s there. And it’s not supposed to be there. It is the result of some small unfortunate poor handling, storage or other incident that happened to this particular CDV in the past.  

An online search of the Heritage past auction results quickly located this authentic Sojourner Truth CDV example which sold at Heritage for $1673 in 2008:

BINGO AGAIN! This is the image used to make the Sojourner Truth CDV on eBay which sold for $599.99. The eBay CDV of Sojourner Truth was also a FAKE! 
 
Not that it was needed but checking the reverse of the fake eBay Sojourner Truth CDV and comparing it with the reverse of the authentic Heritage example provided yet additional confirmation (identical placement of the tiny dark spots and other slightly discolored areas identical on the reverses).

Fakes are like ants...Where there is one, there are usually many...
 
I suspect there are more CDV fakes offered or sold by this seller…MANY more...

Maybe all.   
 
I could research and analyze additional CDVs offered and sold by "our eBay seller" but I think what is provided here is sufficient. Maybe someone will be saved from buying a fake CDV as an original from the eBay handle "jtlcoll87" but keep in mind that sellers can change their handle, work with other sellers to offer items, and even have more than one handle. The blueprint of the approach detailed here (which really is just common sense, not rocket science!) can often be helpful in assessing other types of collectibles as well. Just being aware there are problems at all in a given area sometimes is half the battle. And remember: no matter how advanced or how much experience you have, I have found one always has to keep an eye out for new types of fakes. Criminals can be ingenious. Forgery methods and technology evolve. Fake "provenance" can be created. Con men can be very clever. The fact is: I don’t know anyone who has been extremely active in any area of collectibles who has not at some time or another been cheated or at least fooled by clever forgeries.

One last note: I can imagine someone asking "Why not go to the police or the FBI and present them with this information so they can investigate and prosecute?"  I have a tremendous amount of experience working with law enforcement. They are busy working on bigger and more important cases. This situation at present is just  not of the magnitude in terms of dollars and number of victims that makes it worthy to pursue....yet, anyway. But someday, well...you never know how these things will evolve. And I can assure you that from experience, representatives of law enforcement would agree. 

 I hope reading about this eBay drama as I experienced it will be entertaining and helpful to some collectors!

After an auction is over, there are hundreds of buyers who naturally want their winnings as fast as possible. I always did such a great job of being quick that early in the morning on auction day, longtime collector/dealer Barry Sloate posted on the net54 vintage card forum that he had already received his lots (he was obviously kidding because the auction had not even ended). 
 
Readers here may or may not know Barry Sloate. Barry Sloate is one of the most knowledgeable of all collector/dealers and auctioneers of vintage baseball cards and memorabilia. He is also a true a gentleman scholar, universally respected for both his great knowledge and great character. Always polite, extremely smart, articulate, and though now retired, Barry will forever be remembered and appreciated for his decades of contributions as a pioneer in the collecting world and a pillar of the collecting community. All of his many great qualities, combined with his scholarly demeanor...somehow made him the perfect foil for a joke that just evolved unintentionally into this story: 
 
Back to Barry's post about receiving his auction winnings before the auction even ended: Barry did indeed win a few lots in the auction later that night. No one, of course, could possibly expect to receive their winnings for anywhere from many days to a few weeks. The Saturday night auction, as always, actually ended around 3:00 AM on Sunday morning. Barry lived in a ground floor apartment in Brooklyn, not all that far away from the auction office in New Jersey. On Sunday around dinner time it came to me in an inspired flash that as a joke I should hire a messenger to deliver Barry’s lots personally, totally unannounced. It wasn’t easy on a Sunday night, but with a few calls I found a service that could accommodate…
 
Flash forward to Monday. On net54 Barry posted simply that at 9:30 in the evening on Sunday a courier delivered his auction winnings. He thanked me for “the fastest delivery in hobby history,” and noted that it must have been in response to his morning post.

But that didn’t begin to tell the full story! 
 
My followup Net54 post in response (which I have cut-and-pasted below) shared the rest of the story (which was too good not to share):

                              --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“When I sent the courier service to Barry’s house with his auction winnings on Sunday night, there is a part of the story that made the whole thing a lot funnier to me: When I gave the package to the messenger service, I told them to be sure not to call ahead, to just show up at Barry’s place with the package unannounced, that it was sort of a joke and that Barry would be surprised. When the messenger got there around 9:30 (and I think Barry will agree that even though the courier was a professional, he looked like he lived in his delivery van), he was naturally knocking on the door and ringing the bell to deliver the package. 
 
I wasn’t expecting to hear from the courier service at all, but around 9:40 their central office called me to tell me that Barry (who had no idea what was going on) appeared to be really annoyed that someone was knocking and ringing his bell, and that he opened his window and yelled at the courier something like "Get outta here! Scram! Stop ringing my bell" and things like that onto the street to get rid of the guy. 
 
In Brooklyn – in retrospect, maybe anywhere - when someone rings your bell at 9:30 at night that you are not expecting and don’t know, it is very unwelcome. They didn’t know what to do. I thought this all sounded really funny, but I was also naturally concerned (I just didn’t think of this potential problem), and told them to go ahead and call Barry on the phone and tell him that it was a special delivery from Robert Edward Auctions. 
 
They called back a few minutes later and told me that he had the package and had signed for it but they were very concerned that he did not find my joke - an unannounced delivery - very funny, and they were hoping he would be more amused after he opened the package. 
 
Maybe it’s just me, but the image of Barry opening his window on Sunday night and shouting out onto the street for the delivery guy, who is trying to deliver his auction lots, to stop ringing his bell and to get lost struck me as very funny and classic. I don’t know if it happened exactly like they told me from Barry’s perspective, but that’s what I was told, and it really was like a Seinfeld moment. I had to share this with the board. Thanks for being a good sport, Barry!”
 
                               -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Also, I didn’t mention that the courier’s first instructions when he was not getting cooperation from Barry (who didn’t know what this person wanted and didn’t want to find out) was to just not take “no” for an answer, to keep trying, and I assured them the courier service that when they finally succeeded in delivering the package, Barry would be happy. I may have even offered an extra tip.
                                 
Barry Sloate’s scholarly demeanor, combined with the respectful and thoughtful manner he naturally always exhibits in dealing with others, somehow made him the perfect foil for this joke, which turned into a slightly bigger drama (and provided far more amusement to me and many others!) than anticipated. As I wrote in my Net54 post at the time: Thank you Barry for being such a great sport! 
 
 

I wrote this book over 40 years ago and I had a lot of fun doing it. The book is a pictorial history of the sideshow, featuring carefully chosen photos of sideshow personalities, with accompanying text about each photo. At a glance the book might seem like it is a “literary version of the sideshow.” And it is that. But really it was also meant to be about how people are all the same, despite differences. It was meant to be inspiring, to recognize that these people, despite whatever unusual qualities they may possess, could accept others, be accepted, and thrive in a community where everyone was (to borrow part of the title of Frederick Drimmer’s far more intellectual book on the subject) very special.

Enter The Sideshow was also meant to be a contribution by me to popular culture. I love the awe and excitement, the entertainment and sense of wonderment, that these performers (or “attractions” as they were often called) brought to the world. I love the sensational presentation of the sideshow. I love the history and the respect for tradition of their craft. And I appreciate the unique relationship between the sideshow performers and the audience, each returning the others’ gaze. To me, when I assembled and wrote this book, it was really an artistic expression. Not unlike a poem. Though I knew this might be lost on many, that was a given and that was OK. That’s the nature of art: it can have different meanings to different people.

This book is most definitely not about making fun of people who are different. It is the opposite. It is about celebrating them. And it was also meant to contribute to the body of literature that reveres and pays tribute to the history of the sideshow.

In 1983 I printed 10,000 copies (self-published) and advertised it in my favorite newsstand publications that to me were the heartbeat of sensational/entertainment popular culture: The National Enquirer, The Weekly World News, and The Sun. These papers, especially The Weekly World News and The Sun, in their heyday were themselves like sideshows, presenting a mixture of truth and outrageous fiction designed to entertain and astound. Thousands of copies of Enter The Sideshow sold by mail to this ideal audience. People must have liked it. I received many letters from customers that wrote to say they loved the book, none that complained, and no one ever asked for a refund. At some point the last couple thousand copies in stock were accidentally thrown out by the printer where I would pick up cases of books as orders came in (they were too heavy and bulky to be stored in my apartment). Still, the entire project was a great success to me (not a windfall financially! But that was never the point). I stopped advertising as I no longer had sufficient inventory and didn’t want to go to press again. Fortunately I had a few cases (maybe 500 copies) of books put aside so I would have a lifetime supply of copies of Enter The Sideshow to give away as gifts in the future.

A couple of stories about Enter The Sideshow:

Fast forward 25 years. I went to a convention devoted to popular culture, and there was an elaborate booth devoted to the history of the sideshow. Naturally I was very interested in their publications and offerings, and I mentioned to the gentleman in charge (who was dressed as a sideshow carnival barker) that I wrote and published a book on the sideshow many years ago when I graduated college. He asked me what was the title. When I answered “Enter The Sideshow,” he stepped back with utter disbelief and astonishment and, as if he saw a ghost, pointed at me and haltingly uttered “Are you…Are you…Robert Lifson?”

Now I was the one who was stunned. Obviously he was familiar with my book but it was extremely amazing to me that he would know my name. I thought “wow, this is what it must be like for famous people to be recognized!” I was extremely amused.

The proprietor of the booth was James Taylor, the Dean of Sideshow Historians, who has done more to document and preserve the rich history of the sideshow and all related topics than anyone. Ever. Janes Taylor told me that Enter The Sideshow was very highly regarded and explained to me that copies of the book were extremely rare in the sideshow collecting community. He had been looking for a copy for his personal library for years with no success and had actually had another collector xerox the whole book for him so he could at least have that. I was thrilled and flattered, and excited to tell him that I would have a copy for him the next day with my compliments! It was an honor to present him with a copy.

When I first advertised the book, I had no idea how many would sell and how quickly. I was a little unprepared to handle the thousands of orders that came in but somehow, with A LOT of help from my brother and a friend, I got it done!

Someone had to be the first order and I will never forget when that envelope arrived right away. In the upper left corner was the return address, the first two lines of which read “Johnny Eck” and “King of the Freaks.” This was way before the Internet. I knew that Johnny Eck (“The Half-Boy”) was a sideshow legend greater than any other and that he starred in Todd Browning’s famous movie “Freaks,” but I didn’t know he was still alive 50 years later. He was, and he was excited to be featured in the book. Johnny Eck was one of several special people featured in the ads so he knew he was in it, and he sent a letter of thanks and a check.

I was stunned. I felt like I had gotten a letter from 1932 courtesy of a time tunnel. When I got home I called information to see if his phone number was listed. Immediately I had his number and within minutes I was talking to the legendary Johnny Eck on the phone. We became friends and spoke many times. I still have his letter and check. (As I told him, I could never in a million years cash a check from Johnny Eck!) After learning he wouldn’t mind having a few extra copies, I sent him 20 copies of Enter The Sideshow so that he could give them as gifts, which he was very grateful to receive. I remember him telling me that he was particularly honored to be one of the few to be featured with a two-page spread as opposed to one. He was really excited about that and absolutely loved the book, and shared many stories about friends (most long gone) from the sideshow world.

Johnny told me that he was now an artist and particularly enjoyed “screen painting” which I was totally unfamiliar with. He explained it was a folk-art form unto itself that was very popular in Baltimore (where he was from and lived) in which artists used window screens and door screens  as their canvas. He sent me a handmade postcard with an original artwork he created on it (no doubt similar in design to his screen art) as a token of his appreciation. I still have that too. If I can put my hands on it (it’s buried somewhere in boxes) I will edit this post and post it here.

The Mastro connection to Enter The Sideshow: When I decided to create and market the book, Bill Mastro wanted to invest. He wanted to invest in anything I was doing and who could blame him. My record of success in anything related to business was remarkable and I was young and just getting started! I was very friendly with Bill in those days and happy to have him on board. Being so much older than me, Bill was like a big brother. I think he was genuinely kind of excited about the sideshow topic, because just like baseball is a world unto itself with superstars and ephemera and photographic collectibles that document its rich history, so too was the world of sideshows. Bill and I traveled by car to The Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin to pick out many of the photos that ultimately appeared in the book. Before even the first advertisement selling books appeared, Bill could see that this was more of a passion project for me than a great business opportunity and asked to be bought out. This made a lot of sense, so I gave Bill his money back plus a small profit. Even with the loss of 2000 books by the printer, the sales paid for everything, plus a little more, plus (most importantly) a generous supply of books to give away.

After 40+ years of giving away copies my stock of Enter The Sideshow books is much lower but I still have approximately 100 copies left. I don’t need or want any money for copies of Enter The Sideshow. I wouldn’t feel right about accepting money for copies. It’s really something I have just enjoyed sharing, with my compliments, with people I meet who might appreciate it.

If I personally know you (or you know either of my kids or wife) and you would like a copy, please let me know! I will be happy to send you a copy with my compliments!

If I don’t know you, and you would like one, I have to have some mechanism to make their distribution benefit a good cause: I have been making copies available to anyone in exchange for a $50 donation to the ASPCA or to any of the dogs in need featured by Keith Olbermann’s twitter account that is dedicated to rescuing dogs in trouble and getting dogs in need adopted.

Link: https://x.com/tomjumbogrumbo?s=21&t=-3NFVtpwXnT1NONPkh070g

Send me just your donation receipt and address and I will send anyone a copy of Enter The Sideshow. Postage is on me!

I hope you have enjoyed reading these stories about Enter The Sideshow.

I had fun writing it.

Sincerely,
 
Robert Lifson
 

 Today I'd have to give that honor to Net54, by far the most substantial online message board that is devoted to vintage collecting. The aggregate knowledge there is second to none. But in the 1970s...there was no Internet...conventions were just starting to gain steam (today there are so many, who can keep up? In the 1970s there were so few you could.) Getting to them was another story but somehow I was able to go to many. But The Trader Speaks...that came to you. For a basically non-traveling kid this was a big deal. This was how the collecting community communicated. It was so exciting getting The Trader Speaks that even though it was a monthly, I remember calling home during school every day for the couple weeks before it arrived just in the hope it would be early. OK so in some ways I was a dope! I knew it was a long shot it could possibly arrive weeks early. I was just that excited!

Here is a tour of a random issue of The Trader Speaks I saved from 1975 followed by whatever happened to come to my mind as I was turning the pages:

This is how big important auctions were conducted. Nothing was bigger than an ad in The Trader Speaks. No photos. No catalog. Not even a real formal bidding system most of the time. This was The Stone Ages of auctions. Bob Wilson was one of the leading collectors of the day. At some point he decided to stick with just Hall of Famers and sample cards and sell everything else, and then soon after sold the rest of his collection. Very nice guy. Well known to have a few too many martinis at times which may have even been related to his selling. It was sometimes uncomfortable when I called and he was...not 100%. All the more so as I was a kid. But he was always a gentleman and I appreciated very much that when I called, he was always happy to hear from me and always willing to at least discuss whatever crazy trade or deal I was proposing.

Notice that in his auction ad it states "Some cards may have back damage." It only took one deal with Bob Wilson, however, to learn a key fact about all his cards: They ALL had back damage. Every single one of them! Because when Bob got cards, HE TAPED THEM TO SHIRT CARDBOARDS FOR DISPLAY. (I think he had some special deal with the local dry cleaners). It wasn't the whole back of the card. But small areas on the reverse where he had affixed tape. I don't know if it was double-sided tape or he just folded small strips, but this was serious tape. When he removed cards from his displays to sell or trade, he had to "tear" them out, causing paper loss on the reverse of every card.

Bob collected many rare cards. Many 19th century rarities such as Joseph Hall Team cards, N175 Large Gypsy Queen Tobacco, Hall of Famers from every major 1910 era tobacco and caramel set etc. Many of his cards would be worth $5000 to $10,000 or more each today (without reference to any discounted values due to back damage). So when Bob writes at the top of his ads that "some cards may have back damage" I always found this extremely amusing because I knew... ALL his cards had back damage! 

I should add that back damage wasn't as big a deal back then as now. It wasn't a plus but really it wasn't the end of the world. Especially for larger rare 19th century cards with blank backs of which Bob had many. His cards are all out there somewhere. So when you see a card with areas of paper loss from tape on the reverse that has been in the hobby for decades...it may have originated from the collection of Bob Wilson, one of the pioneer advanced collectors of his day.  

Here's an ad by Jay Barry. This is a very significant hobby name that few know today but in the 1970s he was one of the biggest baseball card collectors in the country. He was from Michigan, a hotbed of early collecting activity, and was also involved in running shows in the hobby's early convention days in the mid 1970s. Back then, because prices were so low, collectors could collect "everything" as opposed to specializing (and by "everything" I don't mean literally all cards from all eras; that would be impossible. I mean all universally recognized major sets such as Topps, Bowman, Goudey, T205, T206, important regional issues, etc). Jay Barry was a GREAT collector, and he had "practically everything!" Just a HUGE advanced collection. He was always so tired looking when I saw him at shows, probably because he was running himself ragged helping with all the show problems, on top of buying and selling, and being offered so many cards all day because he was such a serious and dedicated collector. I remember a dealer who said Jay was like a "sad clown." He meant no disrespect. There was no question Jay was a gentleman and a scholar and a pillar of the community. But he did have an undeniable rundown "Emmet Kelly presence" that was probably due as much to his permanent five o'clock shadow as to his exhaustion from nonstop activity at shows. 

Not long after this Trader Speaks ad in November 1975, I remember hearing what to me (and many others) was SHOCKING news: Jay Barry had sold his collection "lock, stock and barrel." I couldn't imagine how he could do this! And what a collection. It was immense. I remember asking why? and for how much? and I remember being told he got something like $25,000 and and was using the money to buy a house. I accepted this as the gospel then, but in retrospect, who knows if this was exactly accurate. Today this collection might be worth Ten Million dollars! (give or take a couple million). For starters, he had a T206 Wagner, so there's millions right there. But at the time, the idea of "$25,000" as a sale price for ANY collection, no matter how big, was just not even contemplated. This was not yet a big money hobby. Anyone who sold great cards at this time could look back and say they are worth much more today. I'm sure Jay Barry was fine with his decision, but as far as what happened to him, what did he do after he sold his collection? I have no idea! He may have kept in touch some adult collectors (I was just a kid) but he just sort of completely disappeared from the landscape of collecting as far as I could tell. He was a great ambassador for the hobby, promoting vintage card collecting, and few collected as Jay Barry did in the 1970s: all in, paying real money (for the times), aggressively building such an outstanding collection in this era. I'm sure he's out there somewhere. Jay Barry was one of the most prominent and active collectors in the 1970s just as the hobby was exploding in popularity.

"Looking For That Superstar? Try L&R" That was slogan (as seen in the above ad) engraved into the mind of every collector who read any hobby publication or went to any East Coast show. You'd never know from this particular ad, but L&R was the first dealership to ever deal (almost) exclusively in star cards. Commons? No interest. Only Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio etc. And they couldn't buy or inventory enough of them. No number was too many. Twenty 1952 Mickey Mantles? No problem! And they'd pay more than anyone thought these cards were worth. The "L" in "L&R" was Don Lepore. The "R" was Herb Ross. These gentlemen were waaaay ahead of their time as they carved out and expanded this niche. Today, of course, cards of the best Hall of Famers are universally recognized to be what most of the vintage card hobby is all about. Just look at the prices. In the old days, the premium for star cards - even Mickey Mantles - was very modest. L&R Card Company practically changed this all on their own. It's hard to even communicate what an enormous impact they had. Of course they had help from customers who were receptive, but really they single-handedly changed the market and how so many collect. I'm sure it would have happened on its own in time but someone had to be the first to recognize the enormous potential of star cards and jump start the entire market. That was L&R Card Company hands down no question.

Herb Ross is retired and lives in California now. He was a staple at shows on weekends... and a school principal during the week. Both he and his wife Roberta were into body building. They were the most fit looking people to ever attend a card convention. Which if you haven't been to one, for some reason is a magnet for people that are... not so fit; no judgement, everyone knows this, it's just one of those things! There are many exceptions of course and Herb and Roberta were at the top of the list. I don't know how they had time to do everything. And collect. Herb was very big on the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson. I last heard from Herb just a few years ago and was able to help him with an appraisal for some cards. He sounded great!

Don Lepore is a legend in the history of card collecting. If there were a Hall of Fame for card dealers, he'd get my vote for inclusion. But in 1975 Don was just a kid! Well, 15 or 16 years old. He made the business run because he was happy to work 24/7. Herb Ross and his wife Roberta were like second parents to Don and their friendship and dealings survive to this day. Don went on to be the creative force behind the famous Card Collectors Company during the 1980s, steering them to even greater heights, and that also had great hobby impact. The Card Collectors Company was one of the pillars of the card business. Don was involved in everything over the years...from handling the rarest vintage cards (including even T206 Wagners and Planks) to dealing hundreds of cases of new cards, to buying Bruce Yeko's inventory, to creating his own products (and helping others do so as well)...Running shows. Selling via telemarketing. Organizing autograph signings as this area of commerce was just starting to be a big deal, with significant up and coming stars. Don also had a huge impact on the mail order catalog business for cards and collectibles. He also at times worked for Sotheby's, REA and other auctions. He was (and still is) a visionary. I can't possibly do justice to all he has done. He should write a book. Over the past 50 years Don has been involved in a significant way in virtually every area of the hobby. I first met Don (at first just on the phone) when we were both kids. In one of our earliest dealings I remember walking over a mile to the post office carrying a very heavy full vending case (it might have been two cases) of 1966 Topps on my shoulders to mail to him. It was a Herculean effort but I was determined. One of my mother's friends saw me when she drove by, stopped to pick me up, and drove me the last quarter mile. (She was kind of horrified. It was a very busy street with no sidewalk and cars whizzing by). That was a year or two before this November 1975 ad came out. And now...50 years later... I am proud to say we still are in contact today and Don is one of  my oldest and dearest friends.

Robert Ball, "The Postman From Kentucky" as we called him (he worked for the post office) was an extremely advanced and dedicated collector. There were very few pure dealers back in the 1970s. Everyone was really a collector or they would not have been involved. Robert Ball started young and was active for decades (he may still be to this day).  Very nice guy and always a pleasure to deal with. Due to time, I can't possibly write about every page of this November 1975 issue of The Trader Speaks (though I could!) but when I saw Robert Ball's ad I had to include it.  Years after this early ad, Robert decided to specialize in collecting one of the most difficult of all tobacco issues: The 1912 S81 Premium Tobacco Silks set. These  were even rarer in the old days than today, and a much bigger deal in collecting circles long ago than today. (I think this is just because for a long time these were not able to be graded). Trying to assemble a complete set was a "crazy" goal. But with dedication and networking and patience, Robert did the impossible.

Many collectors are familiar with the famous S81 Uncut sheet that features a complete set of S81. It is one of the great treasures of tobacco collecting and there is only one. I actually met the dealers who discovered this sheet at a general collectibles show held at the Cherry Hill Mall in New Jersey. They had some nonsport uncut silks and I asked them if they had any baseball silks. They told me about the uncut sheet (I was incredulous and stunned that this could possibly really exist but it was obvious they were telling the truth. And why make up such a story?) I soon learned the sheet was in the collection of the world's biggest (and only) all silks collection: A collector named Ken Silverman  had for some reason decided that he LOVED all silks (there were many different sets of silks in various colors and sizes issued by tobacco companies: not just baseball but everything presidents to  Indians, flowers, maps, etc. It was endless.) Ken Silverman advertised everywhere for tobacco silks and had an insatiable appetite for them. THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of silks were constantly being sent to Ken in Tiburon, California. No amount was too many. No price was too high (well, I don't really know that to be the case, but Ken was a very generous buyer, and he was able to buy any and all silks available very easily as he was happy to pay more than others. They were worth more to him than anyone. I never heard anyone say the words "I offered these silks to Ken and he just didn't offer enough.") It was really one of the most incredible assemblies of a particular type of tobacco issue ever in the history of the world. Seriously. It was amazing.

Anyway, when Ken decided to sell his collection, I got a call from him and was very excited to be considered to buy some or all of his collection, even though at that time I really didn't know what I was getting into. Of course I asked about the S81 Silk sheet, the crown jewel of the collection. No, that was the only thing that wasn't available. That was promised to Robert Ball. I could certainly understand why. Who could possibly appreciate the sheet more than Robert? No one. Robert kept the sheet for many years. It was the signature piece in his collection and would have been one of the key items in even the biggest and best collections in the world. In my opinion anyway. For many years the S81 silk sheet was practically synonymous with Robert Ball's name. He was asked about it hundreds of times by collectors and dealers who wanted to buy it. Finally, I think just because everything eventually gets sold and people, even collectors, have to think about things like taking care of their family and retirement, he sold it. Decades later (in 2005) I finally had the opportunity to sell the S81 sheet at auction. It sold for $197,000 in 2005. It's changed hands a couple times since and is one of the greatest baseball tobacco items in the collecting world.

I don't know what it was about Michigan, but there was a lot of activity there in the 1970s and 1980s. A LOT. One of the many reasons was Charlie Brooks. He was mover and a shaker and everyone liked him. He was involved in publishing, running shows, and wheeling and dealing. And drinking (no disrespect intended but this was not a secret; I don't think I ever saw him without a drink in his hand, and I'm talking about right on the convention floor!) 

In 1975 when when Hostess first came out with cards on their boxes for kids to cut out, collectors were very enthusiastic. Unfortunately one had to actually buy boxes of Ho-Hos and Ding-Dongs, or whatever these little cakes were called, to get the cards that were on the bottom of the boxes (3 cards per box). That was a match made in heaven for many baseball card dealers but even they could eat only so many. So at shows every other table would have dozens of Hostess cakes for sale, and of course they were soon available free. Hundreds and hundreds of Hostess cakes traveled to convention after convention. It was like part card convention, part bake sale. I don't know how he did it but at some point Charlie Brooks bought a TRUCK FULL of unassembled Hostess boxes. They were perfect and flat and presented all the advertising of the Hostess box  far better than boxes from store shelves. BUT he had only about 9 different boxes (50 different would be needed to represent a complete set of 150 cards). An endless supply of the same 9 boxes over and over. I remember buying or trading for a case. Very soon no one wanted these 9 boxes. There were just too many of them. I don't know how Charlie was able to get rid of them all but he did. It took me 20 years just to move my one case! So when you see 1975 Hostess unassembled boxes today, you will more than likely see boxes from Charlie Brooks' truckload. Many have been cut down for the cards over the years. Considering how many he had, it's surprising there are not more of them looking for homes today. But any day one can go onto eBay and type in "1975 Hostess Box" and see them. That's just one Charlie Brooks story. There are many. He was one of the most enjoyable to talk to, well known and colorful characters of the 1970s.

Charlie Conlon was one of the most prominent and well traveled collector/dealers in the field from 1975 until his too-soon passing in 2008.

This early ad by Charlie in the November 1975 issue of The Trader Speaks is particularly interesting because it is from the earliest days of his offering 1975 Topps mini cards. It may even be his first 1975 Topps mini ad. He was the ONLY person to have quantities of this issue and the story of the 1975s minis is one of the great card collecting investment stories of all time, Charlie dabbled in cards for a few years in the early 1970s, but in 1975, he accomplished one of the great coups of modern collecting. In 1975, at the very beginning of the baseball card season, he could not help but notice that the Topps cards at the local store were very different than the Topps cards from past years, and very different from the 1975 Topps cards that were sold elsewhere in the county. It was impossible to miss. They were smaller!

That was the year of the 1975 Topps Mini cards. As a marketing test, presumably to see how well smaller cards would sell (which of course could save Topps lots of money in production and shipping costs), in 1975 Topps produced a small print run of cards in much smaller than standard dimensions, on a very limited test basis. By chance, most of these test cases were sent to Charlie’s area in Michigan. (As I have said earlier…in the early days for some unknown reason there was always A LOT of hobby-related activity in Michigan!) When Charlie realized these cards were in short supply and not available anywhere else and would likely sell for a premium, he went from store to store, and wholesaler to wholesaler, and bought all he could find. ALL of them he could find. HUNDREDS of cases. The stores and candy wholesalers who distributed the cases thought he was crazy.

His great foresight paid off almost immediately. From the year of issue on, Charlie was the only one to go to for 1975 Topps Minis. Just about every unopened box of 1975 Topps Minis in the entire collecting world today can be traced back to Charlie. As the years rolled by and prices went up, he slowly sold off his seemingly never-ending supply. When asked how the supply was holding up in later years, he would simply say, “I’m running low,” and leave it at that. In 2009 I had the honor of being chosen by the estate to handle the sale of Charlie’s entire collection and inventory. He still had 26 unopened cases tucked away since 1975.
When this Trader Speaks ad came out in 1975, it was unknown how incredible his unusual cornering of the market would be. Charlie was always confident in his unusual investment in time, money, and storage (these cases took up a lot of room!) But when this ad came out, even Charlie had no idea that 1975 Topps minis would become anywhere near as valuable as they did in years to follow. Or that he would soon be making his living selling these cards full time. He made millions on his relatively modest investment. The story of the 1975s minis is one of the great card collecting investment stories of all time.

Goodie Goldfadden was old and cranky. That was part of his charm. I’m sure he had a good heart but he scared the heck out of kids! He was an ancient dealer who many credit with being the very first full time sports memorabilia dealer. Which he probably was.

He used to advertise everywhere to buy sports collectibles, and had a particular affinity for all sports publications. Apparently he had literally millions of publications relating to baseball, football, and all other sports. Unfortunately his shop was in California, 3000 miles away from my Philadelphia area home, so I never got to see his store. But I would call him up at the ADCO book store and imagine that he was surrounded by millions of old items in huge piles everywhere. The vision in my mind’s eye was the ultimate curiosity shop from an earlier era, with everything one could possibly imagine crammed in, manned by an old-as-the-hills cantankerous proprietor who had little patience for anyone wasting his time and no idea how intimidating he was to young collectors. 3000 miles away, I was fearless. What did he have in cards? Did he have anything from before 1900? Could I buy things from him by mail? Calling long distance, I couldn’t be dismissed easily, even though he knew I was a kid. Whatever I asked for, he would say “let me check in the back room” and he would put the phone down, and I would hear a lot of rustling, I imagined things being thrown around and falling on the ground, and eventually he would come back and tell me the good or bad news.

I was able to buy a few things by mail, and when he somehow picked up a particularly exciting group of 19th century cards in partnership with prominent collector Mike Berkus, I was lucky enough to call at the perfect time and bought the entire group. They weren’t cheap but they were EXACTLY what I wanted. It was one of the most exciting packages I ever received as a kid. Or adult. The collection included 54 N173 Old Judge cabinets (which in a stack looked like a million to me!) and dozens of other cards from the 1880s. I remember dozens of N162 Old Judge & Gypsy cards and N184 Kimball tobacco cards were also included. Today that package would be worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars! I don’t remember how much they were at the time, but I think it was about $2000. Which was real money at the time but still a reasonable price. I think Goodie was particularly willing to sell me this collection not just because of the fortuitous timing of my call and the fact that I wanted to buy them, but also because he only owned half of the deal and the quick sale of the entire collection made their partnership accounting and lives easier.

This Trader Speaks ad was the beginning of Goodie Goldfadden having a higher profile in the modern collecting world as far as I was concerned. Seeing this very ad may have even been the first time I ever called and dealt with him. ADCO Book Exchange was VERY well known in California. But his customers were old timers he had been dealing with for years, many specializing in publications, and scores of local collectors who considered him an institution and legend. I had no way to understand or even really know about ADCO Sports Book exchange. I was 3000 miles away. And I wasn’t looking for books anyway. (How was I to know he didn’t just have books?) This ad and others invited everyone in the modern organized hobby to communicate with him! Long distance calls were very expensive back then, so for a short window this gave me an advantage over many collectors. My own advertising may have given me some extra credibility too. But after two or three deals by mail I soon couldn’t compete with the stampede to buy quality material from Goodie Goldfadden. Adults had the advantage and knew how to speak the same language. I was still a kid. Literally. I couldn’t even drive yet! Legendary collector Barry Halper in particular soon bought anything and everything from Goodie’s inventory that might have been of interest in just one or two big deals. There was no way for me to compete. It was big money at the time, far more than I could pay without a buyer in the wings, and he was willing to buy anything and everything. I was a much more time-consuming picky buyer, often didn’t really know what I wanted, and when offered items by Goodie, only wanted an item here or there. Goodie had no patience for that! I felt fortunate to have been able to make the few deals I did for such great material directly from what seemed like a store in a world from the past. After my initial success, I was never able to buy anything else from Goodie because I had no idea what he had (and I don’t think Goodie did either!) I was totally dependent on Goodie personally offering me the right items on the phone from his vast inventory of millions of items. If I had been in his area, on the West Coast and able to visit his store, there’s no telling what I would have found. I just didn’t have that luxury. But I loved the few dealings I had with him, and even got to meet him at a show or two over the years. He was a table holder at a show in New York I attended. I remember he had huge stacks of publications and memorabilia at his table. I have no idea how he got there, all the way to New York, with so much stuff, or how it was economical. And less surprisingly, I met him at what I think was the very first National Convention in 1980 in Los Angeles where he also had a table. That was his neck of the woods and made sense. And yes, he was as cantankerous in person as on the phone!

One last Goodie Goldfadden recollection just so it’s documented somewhere. It’s just never come up in conversation with anyone ever but I’ll never forgot that when I was trying to get Goodie to find something that might be interesting to me, he came back to the phone with what he said were the American Tobacco contracts for one of the 1910 era boxing sets, one signed contract per boxer. He said he had the contracts for the entire set and told me how many contracts but I forget the number. I had absolutely no interest because they were boxing. I wanted baseball and was disappointed he didn’t have any baseball tobacco card contracts. You can imagine how well this was received…Anyway, though I did not see them in person (this was just on the phone), I am 100% confident Goodie had these American Tobacco Company contracts, which would be extremely interesting to card scholars and collectors today. To the best of my knowledge they have never surfaced. I believe they are out there somewhere.

Rob Bruce was one of the most interesting characters in the hobby from approximately 1973 to 1980. I don’t know exactly how he got involved in cards. I think he may have collected when he was a kid. He was one of the most successful card dealers in the field and one of the few (maybe the only?) who was strictly a dealer and not a collector at all. During this era, “regionals” were extremely popular and very valuable. Not that they aren’t valuable today, but relative to other card issues, they were much more valuable in the 1970s than today. “Regionals” is a card hobby term referring to card sets that were not issued nationally, but were only issued in very specific areas (“regions”). Naturally, regionals were almost always much rarer than National issued sets. And many of them were issued with products that required a much more substantial purchase than a one or five cent wax pack.

Rob Bruce was something of a nomad, always traveling. He didn’t have a regular job. Buying cards from non-collectors and selling them in the quickly growing organized hobby was his “job.” Rob Bruce was the first dealer to advertise in all the areas in which the most popular regional issues came out, advertising in local papers specifically for these card issues, and offering to pay what seemed like big money (at this time that was a few or five or ten dollars a card depending on the issue). He would go to Kansas City to advertise specifically to buy Rodeo Meats cards (in the mid-1950s one card was issued with each package of Rodeo Meats hot dogs). He went to Detroit to buy Glendale Meats cards that were only issued there. He advertised in all the right areas in Canada to buy 1952 Topps high numbers because that’s where most of these cards were issued and could easily be found. He advertised in Washington for Darigold Farms cards featuring Spokane Indians players of the Pacific Coast League issued in 1959 and 1960 with milk only in Spokane, Washington. It was endless all the rare regional issues that were possible to unearth. No one had ever done this before so there were more rare cards to unearth with greater ease by advertising than at any other time. He was incredibly successful at finding and buying these high demand cards from noncollectors, in many cases directly from the original collector who saved them, and then selling them for top dollar in the hobby. The fast rising and suddenly very substantial prices of regionals created a unique “arbitrage” situation where Rob Bruce was able to buy cards from non-collectors with offers far higher than they thought possible, and still sell the cards for a huge profit.

That doesn’t begin to explain how interesting a character Rob Bruce was. First of all, he didn’t look like anyone else. He dressed like one of his heroes, Keith Richards. He always had scarves wrapped around him and dripping as part of his outfit, a small leather bag at his side, and unusual highly styled clothes that were just very different from everyone else. At least in all the environments in which I saw him. No one could ever possibly confuse him with a traditional businessman. He looked like a musician (I actually saw many people ask him if he was a musician which was totally understandable). Oh…I have to add…He was a serious drug addict. His life was completely different than anyone else in the hobby. Or anyone else that I knew. His great intelligence and charming personality and all the rare cards he constantly had made these differences a non-issue to the “normal people” (the collectors) that populated the hobby, but everyone could see they had little in common with him except baseball cards. He also had an air of great mystery that one couldn’t tell if it was intentionally cultivated for fun, or if he really didn’t want people to know anything about him. And he would stay in nice hotels and eat at good restaurants and basically live a life of luxury. I knew him as well as anyone in the hobby because I bought so many cards from him for so long and spoke to him on the phone a lot doing so. I was very friendly with him considering our only common ground was business. He was much older than me (I’m guessing 10 or 12), and there was so much crazy about his entire lifestyle that was just very different than mine. For example, eventually I learned that for some reason he lived “off the grid.” He didn’t file tax returns and he said he couldn’t have a phone in his own name. Really, he was like a character in a movie. It was hard to believe it was real life and I actually knew him and dealt with him regularly. I should add that he was always great to deal with for me and everyone. Reliable. Fair. A gentleman. But he was just as “at home” in absolutely the seediest parts of town and most dangerous establishments as he was conducting business with doctors and lawyers or staying at a fancy hotel.

What happened to Rob Bruce? Was that his real name? (He spoke of changing his name for a “new start.” That’s not something I’ve ever heard anyone else even mention). In retrospect it’s not surprising that he was not long for this world. I think drugs eventually caught up with him. He would occasionally disappear for months only to suddenly resurface. At some point he would call asking me to send him money (something like $500) by Western Union for an on the road emergency of some kind. This was peanuts compared to all our dealings. I would always send it to him, and true to his word, months later a letter would arrive with money orders repaying me. This happened several times. I had no problem with this but realized that clearly something was wrong. He always had some crazy reason (his car broke down out of town or something like that). It was my pleasure to help him - if he needed these funds so much he was calling me, I wanted to be helpful - but I never thought I was really being told what his situation was. When I sent him money by Western Union (which percentage-wise was really expensive to send by the way), he asked me to send to the full name “Robert Wilkes Bruce” apparently as a security measure for when he picked up the money at the Western Union office. Was “Robert Wilkes Bruce” his real full name? I have no idea!

In 1981 he called my home looking for me and spoke to my mother. She mentioned it to me and that she gave him my new phone number at school. The next day he called me at school and acted as if he was calling because his car just broke down that day and he needed me to send him money if I wouldn’t mind. I knew the story wasn’t true because I knew he had called home the day before. I asked him about this and he had some excuse. I don’t remember what it was or even if it made sense. He also said that he was having some medical problems, that he had hepatitis and this made him yellow (a symptom of hepatitis which is a serious liver condition that is often associated with injection drug use). He said he was very concerned about this but was being treated for it. This time months passed and I didn’t hear from him. Eventually I tried but had no way to reach him. I even tried to call his mother in Texas (at some time he must have given me her address or number to send him a package that would arrive when he was visiting). She was unreachable. Robert Bruce is too common a name to find exactly what happened to him, but as the years have rolled by I am certain he passed away not long after that last conversation, probably related to his serious medical issues. If he had not passed away, nothing could have stopped him from sending back the loan. That’s how I know. I’ve got lots of Rob Bruce stories and all of them (aside from the fact that he was a drug addict) are actually very positive. For all the years I knew him, he never hurt anyone (except himself). He was definitely one of the most interesting characters in the hobby in the 1970s. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading a little about him. RIP Rob Bruce.

Don Sclaff was a permanent fixture at conventions in the Midwest in the 1970s. And no one could possibly miss him. He was tall, with hunched back, and was constantly giving away cards as a gesture of good will to new collectors. Once again, I have to note Don was from the incredible hotbed of collecting activity in Michigan. (There must have been something in the water!) Don made a big impression on me because of his great support for the hobby and his personal generosity to young collectors. Even in this 1975 Trader Speaks ad, look at the bottom: a free 1933 Goudey card would be sent to the first 15 beginner collectors to send a self-addressed stamped envelope. He was ALWAYS giving away vintage cards to new collectors to promote the hobby and to plant the seeds of joy of vintage card collecting. Over the years he gave away HUNDREDS of 1952 Topps high numbers, 1949 “Rare Leafs” and many other extremely valuable classic cards, never wanting anything in return. He just wanted to help collectors enjoy the hobby like he did. I don’t recall doing any business with him but we talked cards at length every show. As well as on the phone (you can even see his old phone number scribbled right on his ad above). I don’t remember  much about his personal collecting, but I remember how much he enjoyed shows and I remember that he would always have a stack of rare cards in his front shirt pocket so he could magically have them in his hand at a moment’s notice. I can’t imagine how many collectors he helped over the years. One time he provided The Sports Collectors Digest with something like 100 rare 1952 Topps high numbers (I'm pretty sure it was 100) all at once just for a special promotion he thought up: to give away one 1952 Topps high number card with each of the next 100 new SCD subscriptions. Each card was probably worth more than the subscription. He just wanted to encourage collectors to be involved and enjoy the hobby as a hobby, and to help young and new collectors. I thought of Don when I came up with my free card offer for kids. He’s long gone now but he’d really like the free cards offer, and be happy to know that his great efforts to help young collectors were remembered. 

The back cover of the November 1975 Trader Speaks features one of my early auctions! They got bigger and better over the years but this was how they looked in the earliest days. The 1953 Stahl Meyer Meats card of Whitey Lockman (Lot 5) has an interesting story. I bought a collection of cards from the son of someone who worked at a company called Milprint in Milwaukee. They printed many regional issues for meat companies as well as Johnson Cookies cards and Dan Dee Potato Chip cards. This was a particularly fascinating collection because all of the cards came right from the printer, and had no wear or damage from being packed with the various products as intended, because they never were packed with products. One of the issues Milprint printed were the cards for Stahl Meyer meats. The collection included 52 Stahl Meyer Meat cards and all were in virtually perfect Mint condition. But…they were ALL Whitey Lockman. It took me YEARS to get rid of all those Whitey Lockmans! They have been dispersed to the four corners of the collecting world over the past 50 years but you will still find more Whitey Lockmans (and in far better shape) than any other Stahl Meyer neat card. This is the reason why.

I could write a book about every issue of The Trader Speaks but that’s not practical. I hope reading this  scattershot stream-of-consciousness tour of a handful of pages of this one issue was enjoyable. I had fun writing it.

The book, a very low-budget, approximately 100-page stapled publication, was titled Who's Who In Card Collecting. It featured short biographies and collecting interests of collectors all across the country.  This book was a few years old when I first got it and for a long time was my greatest tool for finding and speaking with advanced collectors as a youngster. In 1972 there was no Internet, no Net54...heck, there were practically no conventions (a few gatherings of advanced collectors but nothing like what the future would soon hold). And, as a 12-year-old who could not travel more than a few blocks from home, the idea of visiting with collectors was not even a consideration. The post office and the telephone were my only links to the outside collecting world. Eventually I got my Mom and/or my Dad to drive me a few places if it wasn't too far. 

What a lot of people don't realize today is that long-distance phone calls were rare and REALLY expensive in the 1970s. When I would call someone, it was almost incredible to them that I was calling at all. It was nothing like today. It was a big deal. I was just so impatient and anxious to speak to people about cards and hopefully make deals (this was how I learned about cards) that I didn't care what it cost. My parents sure did, and this was a problem at times. Pretty much the deal was I could make whatever calls I wanted as long as I paid the bill for my calls. The only way I could make money was to buy and sell cards. This meant...MORE CALLS. The phone bill was my only business expense but it was hundreds of dollars a month. That may sound like a lot of money for a phone bill now, but remember: This was in the early 1970s. There were a few times when my phone privileges were cut off until I could catch up. I was so stupid/unknowledgeable of the ways of the world (hey, what kid isn't at times) that when I was "cut off" from making long distance calls, I actually called collectors to make deals collect. (That was even more expensive!) And they actually accepted. But when they learned why I was calling collect, well, naturally they weren't all that thrilled with my call. (In retrospect, most probably thought I was in some dangerous life-threatening emergency situation needing help...not just calling to chat about cards and to see if they had anything to sell or trade...Finally I understood when an advanced collector (on his dime...) explained to me (just a little exasperated) that this was not acceptable and to not do it anymore...We are all born knowing nothing...This is how we learn! Tom W, I know you are out there somewhere...thank you for taking the time as an adult to talk to me, a young enthusiastic kid who did not know the ways of the world!

OK kids…you’ve been keeping me REALLY busy…Hundreds of packets of free cards have been mailed out! But I have a concern: please remember that these cards I am sending out are meant for kids who don’t have the ability to buy cards due to access or expense. 
 
In the old days, before cards became so expensive that pretty much only well-to-do adults could collect, everything was a penny (or close). Cards had little value. Kids could even enjoy playing with cards by flipping them and carrying them around. Sometimes even in our pockets! They weren’t an “investment”. It is my great pleasure to send these packages of free old cards out. My concern is that there are some large groups of kids from certain schools and areas that are requesting all during the same week (in some cases the same day!) and while, as you know, I have honored ALL requests, at some point I am going to run out of free cards to distribute. I don't have an unlimited supply! If you don’t have a sincere interest, or are requesting cards just because they are free and to sell them, please know that when I run out there will be youngsters that will not being able to receive a package.

So my message is simply... Let’s be considerate of the youngsters for whom this offer is intended: kids who are interested but don’t have money to spend on old baseball cards. If all 82 kids that wrote from one zip code fall into this category, then by all means, all 82 of you should request free cards. That is what the offer is there for! But if you fall into the well-to-do category and have lots of money and lots of old cards already, then please, leave the balance of the limited supplies for the less fortunate youngsters. We are on the honor system! Thank you!
 
Sincerely,
 
Robert Lifson 

[email protected]
 
 
 

Thank You Anthony and Dorothy for Putting Up With This Practical Joke:
​
Many years ago I was in my office looking at eBay and I happened to look at what the account of my friends Anthony and Dorothy were offering. They always have interesting items.

One lot made me do a double-take:
A painting with the auction listing titled “REBIRTH by Milt Newman - 1965 - REINCARNATION”.

Sounds pretty important. But what made this stand out to me was this was possibly the worst painting in the world and by a totally unknown artist. I just thought it had no value. My thinking was NOBODY that would want this painting for FREE, let alone pay for it and hang it on the wall. It was framed with an engraved identification plaque, probably by Milt Newman or his family. 

It just struck me as funny to think that Anthony and Dorothy had somehow wound up with this painting (that  of course may have once had great personal or sentimental value to someone), probably at a garage or estate sale, but that it had no monetary value. And now they were trying to sell it on eBay. 

Fortunately, I saved a screenshot of a printout. The printout is in black-and -white but gives the general idea and is so much better than having nothing. Here it is:

​So of course I opened a brand new eBay account just to communicate with them anonymously regarding the painting. 

The following is the back and forth (mostly me writing to them, in some cases twice in a row quickly as I thought of something to add) and they obviously have NO idea what is going on. The messages below (which I printed out at the time just so I could remember and laugh about later and share with others) I hope speak for themselves:

Obviously the last message let the cat out of the bag as I signed my name. I can only imagine what went through their minds the millisecond they saw this. The "PS" confirmed in clear language that all these messages were jokes. No more than sixty seconds passed after hitting the send button on this last message and the phone rang. I picked it up and heard Anthony say "You bastard!" and laugh and tell me that they had no idea what was going on, that this was driving them crazy! 

Anyway, I hope others find this as amusing as I do. I'm not sure if this is as funny as I think it is, or the fact that I think this is so funny is what's amusing, but I practically had tears of laughter while sending these. I hope by posting them here I made someone else laugh...and Anthony and Dorothy: Thanks for being such good sports!