Starting in the early to mid 1970s, I was buying from and trading with (and learning a lot in the process from!) one of the great old-time dealers of the early days of organized collecting: Tom Collier. (Interesting footnote: Tom was Mike Aronstein’s partner in the very earliest days of TCMA, which originally stood for “Tom Collier Mike Aronstein”. When Tom bowed out, Mike continued on and while the company was still known as TCMA, the letters now stood for “The Card Memorabilia Associates”.  (There must have been some serious brainstorming to come up with a new name matching the TCMA letters!)
 
I loved dealing with Tom. Many rare items and sets I was shown for the very first time by him. W600s, Duke cabinets, T200 premiums…dealing with him was an education. He lived in Maryland. My Dad - and I can’t even believe he did this but he did - actually drove me all the way from the suburbs of Philadelphia to some remote place in Maryland to meet and deal with Tom Collier in person. Dad stayed in the car and waited. One time I remember my Dad AND my Grandmother sitting in the car outside.  For HOURS - while I made deals with Tom. 
 
Eventually I could drive to there myself. In between being driven and driving,  I remember taking a bus once, but can’t remember exactly how I got to his house (I must have taken a cab the last few miles). 
 
On one of these many excursions, Tom showed me a few original artworks from the Callahan Hall of Fame set. These were created by an artist named Mario DeMarco. I thought these artworks were fantastic, with such great detail. The art was somehow made dot-by-dot, which I later learned was a very unusual and time-consuming process. I made a deal for whatever Callahan artworks Tom had. There were only a few. Tom told me he got them directly from the artist and that there were more if I wanted but he didn’t have the artist’s contact information. 

When I got home I noticed that there was an ink stamp on the back of one of the artworks with Mario DeMarco’s name and address. Of course, this stamp was from 1950, more than 25 years earlier, so the address probably wasn’t good anymore. But….who knew without checking? I called information and within minutes I was speaking to…,Mario DeMarco himself! 
 
Here is the letter he sent me after my call in which I told him how I found him and expressed interest in buying more Callahan card artworks if they were available. The answer was YES. In fact he was extremely pleased I was interested in his artwork and he was enthusiastic about selling them. He had to check to see what he had, price them, and get back to me. When he did, I bought them ALL. Interestingly, included were artworks of some players that were not issued. These unissued card artworks featured players that had not yet been inducted into the Hall of Fame when the card project was ongoing and so did not warrant inclusion in the Callahan set (which was issued between 1950 and 1956, updated with the new inductees every year). 

When all these artworks had been purchased, I was kind of disappointed there were no more. Inspired by the unissued card artworks, I came up with the idea of offering to pay for artworks of players that had yet to be created. Mario found this very amusing and he was THRILLED to do this. Artworks of any player could be created. We picked great stars and Hall of Famers whose careers were active during or after the years the Callahan set was issued. That’s how there came to be artworks (all of which are out there somewhere) for more modern stars such as Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron as well as many others. They were still time-consuming so there was a big delay for each new batch. Mario was always a true gentleman and I very much enjoyed our dealings. 
 
Interesting story Mario DeMarco told me: where signatures appeared pasted in the backgrounds of most of the original card artworks, these were REAL signatures. They sure didn’t look like real signatures, but that’s because he drew OVER them with some special dark ink, totally covering them, so the signatures would show up well on the cards In fact, this is why some cards in the Callahan set (the early stars) did not have signatures as part of the artwork at all. It wasn’t random. Mario didn’t have cut signatures of those players!  Easy to say “why couldn’t he just find a signature to copy” but this was his process. 

When I was going through a recently found pile of old bank papers, I found the letter as well as countless checks and money orders to Mario. I must have sent him thousands of dollars. Here are just a couple of the checks; there are many more. I must have kept him very busy in his spare time for quite a while. 
 
As noted in his letter, all this money went to a great cause: helping to put his son and daughter through business school. Today school costs a fortune, but back then a few thousand dollars (my guess of what I sent him in total) was a lot of money and made a meaningful dent in the tuition bills. 
 
Mario DeMarco was a highly respected and extremely accomplished professional illustrator. His work appeared in everything from Life magazine to comic books in a career that spanned an incredible 70 years. He always had a special soft spot for baseball history and the collecting world has always had a special appreciation for his art. 
 
We don’t see these Mario DeMarco Callahan card artworks often these days but every once in a while one or two appear at auction. They are all out there somewhere. When you see one, know that Mario personally sold it, and all of them - I think everyone last one - passed through my hands enroute to finding homes in various collections over the years! 
 
I have more checks that represent stories I hope will be worth writing about and reading. I hope you have enjoyed this otherwise long-lost story from the early days of the hobby!

Robert Lifson

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
 

I apologize for the delay in getting out packages of cards during the past two months. All packages are now ON THE WAY! After sending out today’s shipments, I am all caught up with all card requests. Important: If you have requested cards and NOT received them, please let me know. Every request ever received has been sent a package. Every package has included cards from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s!
 
Every package sent today has also included a GAI-graded T206 Honus Wagner reprint produced by Topps in 2000. These Honus Wagner cards are an official Topps issue that were given out at the 2000 Fanfest convention by Topps at their booth. I have always included an ungraded example in every package of free cards sent but have recently found a couple of boxes of graded examples. (I will continue to send the graded examples out in future until I run out). Why are these graded? I don’t remember the exact details but I vaguely recall there was a problem with a GAI grading order. (GAI is no longer in business now but for a while they were a very prominent competing grading company formed by key former PSA employees Mike Baker and Steve Rocchi). I was given a credit in grading fees to address the problem, and using this credit I decided to send in a bunch of 2000 Fanfest T206 Topps Honus Wagners instead of old cards because I thought that it would be fun to have these graded to someday sell or give away. And over 20 years later…here are they are!

I will be getting back to posting more shortly. I’ve just been a little busy but have found some great old material to share.

Sincerely,
 
Robert Lifson

[email protected]

In 1952 when Richard Nixon was running for VP with Eisenhower, the Adlai Stephenson campaign discovered that Nixon had signed a restrictive discriminatory covenant when he bought his home that prevented the resale to, or use (except as servants) by African-Americans and people of Jewish dissent. (I know…crazy…and note also that this violates constitutional rights per The Supreme Court since 1948 and therefore was unenforceable, but the Nixons signed this anyway).

Copies of the deed were reproduced and distributed by the Stevenson campaign to make the public aware of what a bad guy Nixon was and to make Nixon’s stance on Civil Rights a campaign issue.

When I saw an eBay seller offering one of these original anti-Nixon deed campaign flyers, I thought it was a very interesting campaign item with a story and much to offer in terms of learning about American history. The campaign flyer, by the way, is not just a copy of the deed. It has text added explaining that it is a copy distributed by the Stevenson campaign.  This is easily seen in the photos in the eBay listing. The offered flyer was obviously folded at one time, no doubt related to exactly how they were distributed (the fold lines are consistent with once being in an envelope, which makes sense as they were mailed). It looked good (authentic, that is) and was $75. I decided to buy it.
 
Below is the eBay listing. Pictured in the listing are numerous photos of an original 1952 Anti-Nixon Stevenson campaign flyer (which, again, is essentially a copy of Nixon’s actual signed document, with a credit line added to explain what it is and to make clear it is an anti-Nixon item being distributed by the Stevenson campaign):

A week later, after paying but before receiving, I saw the seller offer a second example. This surprised me a little but it’s not all that unusual for more than one example of a paper item to survive together. However, a red flag was raised by the fact that the seller used the EXACT same pictures in the listing of the second example as used in the listing of the first example that I purchased (and had yet to receive).

I hoped there was not going to be a problem, and that perhaps he was just too lazy to take new pictures of his second example. Or he felt they were in the same condition so why bother. Still, it was worrisome, especially because the first example I bought clearly had an imperfection shown in the photos: an area of surface abrasion that looked like a place where maybe tape had been removed. Unlikely that two would have the same unusual imperfection. Maybe he didn’t notice. I was trying to be optimistic. I would know soon enough. Literally as I was looking at the pictures of the second example on eBay, I received a notice from eBay that the package had arrived and was waiting for me at the post office. 

So off to the post office I went... I picked up the package. I brought it home. I carefully opened it…

And what I received for my $75 was... literally a just-made color copy! Crazy but true.

He was trying to sell me a color xerox for $75 (plus postage)! Was he attempting to sow confusion regarding the word “copy,” or did he really think I wanted to buy a color xerox for $75?  

For reference, here is a picture of the color Xerox received (just for clarification, all the flaws pictured are IN the color Xerox, as this is a copy of a 1952 original with folds and various flaws, and the surrounding white border is the edge of the color Xerox paper):

I immediately requested a refund via the eBay system, provided the requested explanation as to why, and was easily able to show with pictures that the color Xerox I received was NOT what was pictured in the listing, and that only a worthless just-made color Xerox of an original was received. (Note: The eBay listing pictured an original. The color copy of this original received differs in many ways from the original. The seller actually has, or at the very least had access to, an original, as an original was pictured in his eBay listing).
 
 In response to my request through the eBay system to return for a refund, I immediately heard back from the eBay seller:

Of course I could have let it go. I was returning the worthless copy for a full refund (and there was never any worry or doubt about this; eBay is very good at protecting buyers). But something was bothering me about the response. It's one thing for a seller to somehow accidentally handle a non-authentic item, but in this case the seller is picturing an authentic piece and sending out a color xerox, and making clear in his response that it was his INTENTION to sell me a color xerox for $75. It wasn't a mistake. The only "mistake" that the seller claims to have made was to picture an AUTHENTIC item... implying that from the use of the word "copy" that I shoulda known that the "copy" he was going to send wasn't the 1952 campaign-issued "copy" pictured, but instead a completely different color Xerox "copy" of the original. Even though I was returning for a refund no problem, and had an interesting story to boot, I kinda felt like I was being gas-lighted somewhere here. So I just HAD to quickly respond. And also ask about the shipping label he has to authorize to send me to return:

I soon got a notice that my refund was being processed before I even returned the item. Usually a refund is not issued until it is returned using the label sent via the eBay system (which is authorized by and paid for by the seller). Upon receiving the notice of refund processing, I wrote to the seller to thank him, and to inquire again about sending his item back. This last communication - mine to him and the seller's response back, which I have pictured below…to me, this is what makes this a truly great eBay story! And to be extremely clear: there’s no hard feelings by me to the seller. He refunded my money right away, no problem. All is good. But who buys a vintage item and gets sent a color xerox and is OK with this? How to explain what transpired? What was he thinking? I don’t know. Maybe he just thought he could sell copies, and the fact that the item itself (the real item) is sort of a copy helped to create confusion.  Or maybe not. It doesn’t matter. It’s just an incredibly ridiculous eBay story. The final communication is below:

There it is: no return desired. "Just throw it away if you don't want it."

You can't make this stuff up!

I hope you have enjoyed my ridiculous eBay story. I enjoyed writing it!

Robert Lifson

Ok. This headline does not even come close to telling to telling the Pete Rose story that I am referring to…but is an interesting take in retrospect on my small brush with the drama of Pete Rose’s career, legend and life.

The headline really should read “Barry Halper helped Pete Rose make Millions of Dollars!” I played a very small role just doing my job.

From the 1970s through the 1990s Barry Halper was by far the biggest baseball collector and buyer in the world. He had an incredible appetite for spending money on baseball items, and for many years it seemed as if he was single-handedly supporting half the dealers in the hobby, and often buying the entire collections of dedicated collectors. He bought from everyone! The good, the bad, and the ugly (referring to the material he bought, not the dealers, though he really did deal with everyone). Nobody had the bankroll of Barry Halper and nobody was easier to deal with or more generous. He wanted to get called first on everything. Barry was a soft touch, often overpaying to make it worthwhile for dealers to be on the lookout for him. But his “buying everything and making everybody happy” approach was genius: He had the whole world “working” for him. Everyone knew he had the biggest collection from the publicity his collection generated; everyone knew he was an enthusiastic and well-heeled buyer. The combination made dealers - and everyone else! - from all over the country seek him out to see if the great Barry Halper would be interested in their baseball treasures. And he usually was!

In those early hobby days, there was no one that was collecting memorabilia like Barry. He was way ahead of his time. On top of all this, he supercharged his collecting by buying material direct from players. When he became part-owner of the Yankees, even more doors opened to get the inside track on baseball items. Barry had a lot of fun with his hobby. He was a big personality and he loved rubbing shoulders with the baseball greats that he revered, often having players honored to visit his home to see his collection. This, of course, also provided opportunity for him to get items signed, and sometimes even buy important items directly from the players. Barry became so famous that when a letter was addressed to him with no name and no address, reading something like “The Big Baseball Collector, New Jersey,” it got to him. He had an entire album with crazy correspondence like that. He was the greatest baseball collector of his day. And he was the consummate gentleman who left a trail of goodwill and a remarkable legacy of charitable good works. In 2005 Barry Halper passed away. He was only 66.


Though he had sold his collection at Sotheby’s in 2000 (no doubt due to advancing health issues), he kept what was for him a small group of baseball memorabilia. Each piece had some special meaning to him. Many signed items from heroes like Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, for example, were personalized to him. At some point many months after his passing, the Halper family asked me to come over to look at the baseball material that remained and take away anything worthy of auction to sell. Ironically, Barry Halper’s “small collection” of items kept just for personal nostalgia rivalled most lifetime advanced collections in terms of size and value. When you’ve been collecting as long as Barry, in addition to treasured items on display all around his hobby room, there were additional valuable baseball items tucked in every nook and cranny. Many were put there – in a drawer, in an album, in a cabinet -  and forgotten about. (Sort of like how most homes are with rubber bands, paper clips, and batteries. And let’s not forget those little tubes of Super Glue. These things get put away out of sight and then are never seen again!) At some point, after the collection hobby room was finally under control, it was suggested I look in the garage. Just in case there was anything there.  


This was a GIANT garage. No cars. Just shelves and boxes. I don’t remember all that was in there – probably a lot of household items like at any house that “have to be somewhere.” But there was all kinds of baseball material in boxes of all kinds. Some was just stuff that Barry had never gotten around to working on. Some were probably boxes of items that to him were junk and he didn’t even want to buy but did anyway as a courtesy. Some were larger items like bats as well as unwieldly large items such as huge display items requiring a lot of wall space that would not have been at home inside. Literally tens of thousands of dollars worth of items. (Hundreds of thousands actually)... Some impressive, some not so much (and I would have put in my garage too), but all with value.  Trying to get a handle on what was there and where it was in the garage, I noticed a box on the very top of a shelving unit, out of the way and not easily seen. If not looking to be sure to see everything, it would be very possible to miss it. I took the box down and opened it up. Low and behold, inside were Pete Rose signed baseballs. They were hand-numbered like a limited edition and every one was inscribed and signed “I’m Sorry I Bet On Baseball. Pete Rose.”

My jaw dropped. I knew I had just found something extremely interesting and of enormous historical significance. At least in my eyes. I didn’t know if anyone else would see them exactly as I did but to me the idea of Pete Rose signing baseballs in this manner was incredible. Discovering a box of them in Barry Halper’s garage was astounding.  
 
Others felt the same way! The attention in the media the Pete Rose Confession balls got was insanity!
 
Here is the front page of the New York Daily News on September 18, 2006:

Maybe it was a slow news days but…The attention the story got was off the charts!

 As a most efficient way to capture the moment and provide more information, here’s a cut-and-paste of the text of the Sports Collectors Daily article that came out that same day:

“Sept 18, 2006
 
Robert Edward auctions is scheduled to sell a group of 30 of the "confession balls" as part of their April auction. Early reports on Monday indicated the origin of the balls may stem not from a guilty conscience, but rather from Rose’s desire to increase his income. The balls REA is auctioning were part of the Barry Halper estate. Halper’s massive collection was sold some time ago, but he apparently acquired several items afterward, including this group of baseballs.
 
REA President Rob Lifson told SportsCollectorsDaily that he believes 303 exist since Rose numbered each ball with an "of 303" notation. Not nearly that many have surfaced as of yet, however. Rose’s business manager, Warren Greene, indicated he believed the balls were signed informally and number far less than the "303" designation written on them. Typical Rose single-signed baseballs typically sell for $25-50 each. Lifson indicated the "confession" balls would be sent in for authentication but if there is no exclusive arrangement regarding the inscription, it’s likely their value could be affected negatively should Rose and Greene opt to do another signing using the same phrase.
 
Later Monday, Greene told the Associated Press that a collector who got some of the "I’m sorry" baseballs gave 30 of them to Halper, a limited partner in the New York Yankees who died last December. Greene indicated the balls were given to Rose’s friends as a special gift.
Rose spends a lot of time these days at Field of Dreams in Caesar’s Las Vegas, waiting for fans to plunk down cash in exchange for an autograph.”
                                  ------End of Sports Collectors Daily Article-----

At first, there were a few angry (some a little threatening frankly) calls to my office from die-hard Rose fans and perhaps personal friends of Rose. Obviously, the purpose of selling the balls was not to embarrass or cause any problems for Pete Rose. But I think that was how a few people interpreted it.
 
These balls were going to get sold no matter what. There was an estate to settle. And if one didn’t want anyone to see these balls, why would they exist? And why would there be 303 of them? And why would any of these be sold to Barry Halper and who knows who else?
 
Here’s what I think happened: Pete Rose lived large and always had a need for money. He liked gambling too. I mean, he REALLY liked gambling. And gamblers…well…they tend to lose…

Baseball memorabilia and signings provided a lot of income over the years. Most of his income for many years. But the most valuable memorabilia items that he saved such as record-breaking hit balls and game-used jerseys and bats and awards had, for the most part, already been sold. Sometimes Pete Rose needed some extra walking-around-money or he had some "unexpected bills". When you’re Pete Rose and need some quick cash , an extra appearance here, an extra signing event there, can often solve the problem.

Rose had a lot of friends. A few close friends were very involved with the memorabilia collecting world, and with their great understanding of the hobby came up with the idea of having Pete sign and number the confession balls. The limited-edition number 303 was chosen because it was a large enough number to work with and Pete Rose's lifetime batting average was .303. This project put a sizable sum in Rose’s hands in a very easy and quick manner. How much? I would have no way of knowing but if I had to guess, it was at least $30,000. Probably $50,000. Who knows. Maybe it was $100,000. In green cash. And probably at a very opportune time for Rose (in terms of needing cash for some pressing need).

Though it took Rose only a matter of hours to sign and inscribe 303 baseballs, my belief is that he had reservations. Even though he made some mistakes in the past, Rose had a great sense of respect for the history of the game and his place in it. While he couldn’t go back in time to do a few things differently, that didn’t mean he wanted to call attention to his past mistakes. Rose would not sign baseballs in this manner if he thought people would see them. He knew that would call attention to his baseball gambling issue possibly in a way he would not be comfortable. But Pete was dealing with his closest memorabilia friends, and he was assured that the confession baseballs would not see the light of day for many years (the understanding may have even been not during his lifetime). These baseballs were a longtime investment, the existence of which was to be kept in the strictest confidence. Some were sold to recoup his collecting friends’ costs. Groups of confession balls were very quietly placed at a premium with just a few trusted collector confidants. Barry Halper was one of these buyers, and ever-the-gentleman, he honored the request to not display or even let anyone know he had these balls. “Mums the word”. Everyone was happy.

But they did not count on Barry passing away in 2005. And they did not foresee the balls naturally being found among his collectibles.  

I should add that in the months that followed the discovery of the confession balls, much of what I have presented as speculation above has actually been verified. I don’t know some of the exact details (of the financial arrangements for example) but it has been verified to me by people who were involved that the agreement was that the confession baseballs were absolutely never meant to be seen by the public. Ever. At least not for a very long time.
 
So how did all this help Rose make Millions? A cottage industry was born!
 
Here is the September 19, 2006 Sports Collectors Daily follow-up article (just one day after the confession balls became national news):

 Rose Now Selling Confession Balls on Own Website
September 19, 2006 By Rich Mueller

Irony of ironies. The magic words we waited so long for Pete Rose to say are now for sale with proceeds benefitting …..Pete Rose.

You knew it wouldn’t take long. Turns out it look even less time than we thought.

Not much more than 24 hours after the story about the "confession" baseballs broke in the national media, Pete Rose is now marketing them himself.

An advertisement on his website, PeteRose.com, offers the balls, inscribed "I’m Sorry I Bet on Baseball" and signed by Rose, for $299 each. That’s about $250 more than a single-signed, non-inscription ball sells for.
A news release issued Wednesday reads: "Pete Rose announced today that he has given Field of Dreams stores, a division of Dreams, Inc. an exclusive on an autographed baseball with his apology "I’m sorry I bet on baseball" inscribed on the ball."

The balls are available only at Field of Dreams stores nationwide, including the Forum Shops in Las Vegas where Rose appears 52 weeks a year providing autographs and photo opportunities.

"Pete’s fans are fiercely loyal and he is a legend," said Jorge Salvat, President of Field of Dreams. "Field of Dreams has a long-term relationship with Pete, and we are the exclusive distributor of this authentic autographed Pete Rose product."

"These ‘I’m sorry I bet on baseball’ balls are a part of sports history," added Salvat.

Monday morning, word came via the New York Daily News that some 30 baseballs bearing the phrase had been consigned to Robert Edward Auctions. Baseball’s all-time hits leader responded by claiming he had signed a group of those baseballs for some friends who vowed to put them away as an investment. Some had wound up in the collection of Barry Halper, and the deceased man’s family consigned them to REA for release in the company’s April 2007 sale.

Rose quickly decided to capitalize on the publicity and with no exclusive arrangement from the original signing in place, will sign them beginning this week. He appears and signs for a fee for several days each month in an agreement with the Field of Dreams collectibles store in Caesar’s Las Vegas.

                                    -------End of Sports Collectors Daily Article------

THE CRAZINESS DID NOT STOP THERE!

Rose was selling newly signed confession balls for $299 each by the boatload!  It seemed like everyone wanted one…And it seemed like practically everyone actually bought one! Rose’s signing career was supercharged. His income SOARED!

It was exciting to see Rose turn this unexpected event into a positive for himself. We had 30 balls from the original group to auction, and I thought that even though Rose was making and selling more as fast as humanly possible, some collectors would actually make a distinction between the “originally discovered numbered confession baseballs” versus newly signed examples, preferring an “original.” But whatever they went for was fine. We had an estate to settle.
 
THE INSANITY DID NOT STOP THERE!

A day later I received an inquiry from a company involved with some type of gambling business in Canada. The CEO had read about the “Pete Rose Confession Baseballs” and he wanted to know if their company could just buy them all now to use as gifts for their best customers. I told him I was sorry, no, that they were going to auction. But that he could buy baseballs inscribed in the very same way directly from Pete Rose for $299 each and I sent him a link to Pete Rose’s website. I was surprised to hear back from him that he REALLY wanted the Halper Estate examples as opposed to newly signed ones. He ONLY wanted the ones we had. Would we consider selling them for a premium? Would we sell them for $1000 each?  
 
I thought “Whoa! That’s a heck of an offer.”  Yes, these were slated to go to auction, but with an offer like that, under these circumstances (with Rose signing hundreds of new confession balls a day), it would be irresponsible for me to not bring this offer to the attention of the Halper family. After all, if they belonged to me, I would sell them in a second! The Halper family very much appreciated and were in agreement with my thought process and gave me instructions to sell them if that’s what I thought was the most desirable course of action.  So… all 30 baseballs never went to auction. They were they were sold outright for $1,000 each.

We sent out an email to our mailing list informing people that the Rose baseballs were not going to auction, that they had been sold. And we gave the link to Pete Rose’s website for anyone who wanted to buy one directly from Pete Rose.

Here’s a cut-and-paste of the September 22, 2006 Sports Collectors Daily Article (just 4 days after the confession balls became national news):
  
 
Sept 22, 2006
 
Rose Balls Withdrawn from Auction; Sold
September 22, 2006 By Rich Mueller

The 30 original "Pete Rose confession" baseballs consigned to Robert Edward Auctions have been pulled from the April sale and sold outright to a Canadian gaming company. 

The group of balls originally consigned by the family of Barry Halper became the focus of nationwide media attention because of the unique inscription.

However, when Pete Rose began marketing freshly-signed "I'm sorry I bet" balls via his website and daily appearances at a Las Vegas sports memorabilia outlet, the potential market value took a hit.  It put REA President Rob Lifson in a difficult spot, so when an offer came along to buy the group at a significant price, he pulled the balls from the auction.

"An offer to purchase all thirty Pete Rose  baseballs for $30,000 was made to us by ESI Entertainment Systems Inc., a gaming service industry company from British Columbia, Canada," Lifson wrote in an e-mail.   Citadel Commerce Corp, an  e-commerce payment solutions provider and wholly owned subsidiary of ESI, issued a news release Friday morning confirming the sale.

Citadel Commerce indicated it plans to give the baseballs away to customers via an on-line promotion.  
The balls had been consigned to REA by the family of noted sports memorabilia collector Barry Halper, who died in December of 2005. 

"REA has never before withdrawn an item that has been scheduled for auction, but in this unique instance, in light of the fact that Pete Rose is now selling baseballs signed in an identical manner on his website for $299, we advised our consignors that it was our opinion that this offer should be accepted. Our job is to make the best decisions possible for our consignors, and we have therefore executed the sale."

The $30,000 price means the baseballs were purchased for $1000 each.  Lifson said the Canadian company was made fully aware they could purchase balls from Rose At $299 but ESI "specifically wanted the REA auction examples".  It's believed Rose signed 303 of the baseballs about two years ago for acquaintances but it's not likely the balls he's now signing will be numbered, thus maintaining a niche for the original group.

"We apologize for any inconvenience to the hundreds of collectors who have contacted us during the week regarding these Pete Rose baseballs, but in this very unusual circumstance we believe that it was appropriate to recommend an outright sale," Lifson wrote.  "We are confident that collectors will appreciate our thought process, and hope that any inconvenience is more than remedied by the fact that baseballs bearing this identical inscription can now be purchased directly from Pete Rose at www.PeteRose.com."
"We wish Pete Rose all the best and we will be referring all future and previously received inquiries regarding Pete Rose baseballs to www.PeteRose.com."

Michael Meeks, President of Citadel Commerce stated, "These baseballs are a piece of sports history, and as Mr. Rose was not paid to sign them, we think it only appropriate to respect his original intent by giving away the baseballs as incentives to consumers that utilize myCitadel.com for payment of their on-line Internet purchases."

For information about the withdrawn thirty baseballs, which Lifson believes will always have a special historical significance as the original thirty Pete Rose balls discovered in Barry Halper’s basement, contact: ESI Entertainment Systems Inc. (TSX:ESY), 15th Floor, 4710 Kingsway, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5H 4M2.
 
                            -----------   End of Sports Collectors Daily Article  -----------

       

THE INSANITY DID NOT STOP THERE!

Pete Rose was selling autographs like crazy. In addition to selling balls apologizing for betting on baseball, he created a new type of offering. For a premium, he would inscribe baseballs apologizing for things he obviously had nothing to do with (in jest, as a humorous expression of commentary on his unique situation being banned from Baseball and thus the Hall of Fame). Popular examples included “I’m Sorry I Broke Up The Beatles, Pete Rose.” And “I’m sorry I shot JFK, Pete Rose.”

Pete Rose was always a favorite with fans. Ironically, the Confession Baseballs story raised his public profile even more, and as he received more attention, he was embraced anew by even more fans and collectors.
 
Rose was such a hot topic that on October 2, 2006, he appeared on the David Letterman show!

Here’s a youtube link to the appearance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a_JrO_USjo

Though just a small part of the interview, the confession baseballs were prominently mentioned. Pete Rose was an ambassador for the game, with a great reverence for baseball history, incredible knowledge and experience, countless records to his name, and a unique story. He was a true living legend. He was always a great interview about baseball history and current baseball events as well. But it was the confession baseballs story that prompted The Letterman Show to book Pete Rose!
 
Pete Rose is gone now but to me (and countless fans) he will always be remembered as the timeless Baseball Immortal that appears on 1960s Topps baseball cards I treasured as a kid:

This whole post isn’t really a “story.” It’s more like a rambling hopefully fun account of what I always thought was a very interesting event in the auction world as I experienced it. I enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoyed reading!
 
Robert Lifson

“Constantine” is the name I will use to refer to this forger (who was one of many forgers in the collectibles world). But I’m just using that name because no one will know exactly who I am talking about. At least I don’t think they will! I don’t want to identify him here but I have to refer to him by some name to share this story. The purpose of this post is not to cause problems for “Constantine.” His career as a forger is (to the best of my knowledge) totally over. The purpose is to share what I think is a very interesting hobby forgery story that is legendary among only a very small circle, and virtually unknown by the public, because charges were never filed.
 
Constantine was a hobby fixture for many years. He was at countless shows. He was very knowledgeable. He was easy to get along with. A nice guy with a winning personality who was always buying or selling something. He had a close relationship with some respected retail sellers and auctioneers which gave him all the more credibility. At conventions, he could even be found behind the table of an auction house at a big show, resting, or even manning the booth! He was trusted.

And he had a particular area of expertise in dealing: autographs. With all his running around and legitimate activity, almost no one suspected that he was a forger. Because of his deep knowledge of the hobby, he was able to operate for a very long time, and in a very intelligent manner. He used others to market his sophisticated wares in high-end retail establishments and auctions, which further obscured his activities, making detection, even suspicion, all the more difficult.

Naturally, Constantine had an endless supply. He could make as many forgeries as he wanted. But he was very smart about it. He didn’t go for quantity. He went for “quality,” creating forgeries that could be sold for a significant value per item, but with the least likelihood of exposure. These were all extremely high demand relatively recent signatures. No Babe Ruths. No Lou Gehrigs. No Christy Mathewsons. But “yes” to more modern stars such as Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. And he was smart about what the items on which his forgeries were presented. He knew that an unusual, or otherwise especially interesting, item signed by a ballplayer like Mickey Mantle could sell for MANY times what his signature would sell for on a common or unexciting item. He knew what would get collectors excited. This expert approach made his forgeries more desirable, more profitable, and just as important, allowed him to be very profitable with fewer items, and thus less chance of being caught. The materials he used upon which signatures would be added were old and added more credibility. All the more so because they came from him, and it was “known” he had great sources for autographs. Not just from his own collection but also from other longtime collectors he dealt with for years (due to his interests, activity, and being in the New York area). This provenance all alone was good enough for his outlets. Did the stores and auctions that sold his material have a clue? I have no idea.
 
BUT WHAT I DO KNOW… is that a memorabilia dealer consigned a big group of material to my auction (Robert Edward Auctions) and included were a selection of signed items. The signed items were not the core of the consignment. The core of the consignment was an eclectic array of interesting and valuable non-signed items. But the signed items were a welcome addition to the consignment because all were very marketable and would sell extremely well.

 Autograph authentication is an art not a science. I personally can’t tell what is good and what is bad. I’m not an autograph authenticator. So, like most auction houses, we always used reputable authenticators to vet the autographs in every auction. In fact, I think I was the very first sports auction to implement the mandatory policy that all autographed items had to go through a third party authentication process at all, and be approved by our outside authentication experts. Experienced authenticators can be very good. They are also human. It is always possible a mistake could be made. And they have made mistakes. They would be the first to agree if you asked them. They are humans not Gods! But they have great knowledge and can usually tell if an autograph is real or not. When we show authenticators autographs, they don’t know who consigned them or what was consigned with what (unless it is obvious using common sense; multiple items with inscriptions to the same person, for example.).  Each auction had lots of autographs. Sometimes thousands!
 
A FASCINATING thing happened when the autographs from this particular auction were reviewed: Every single signed item from this big consignment was rejected as a forgery. Almost all signed items NOT from this consignment were fine. The authenticators had no idea who consigned them or even what was consigned together. Items are presented to them for review with material organized by type of item (photos, bats, cards, balls , programs, jerseys etc). But every ball, photo, and unusual item from this consignment was rejected as a forgery. Statistically, this was “impossible.”  If everything was on the level. By that I mean, the authentication process provided statistical certainty in my eyes that there was a forgery problem with this consignor’s autographs.
 
First I called the consignor and gave him the bad news that all his signed items were rejected. He expressed surprise. I assumed he was a victim, not the perpetrator by the way. Then I asked him where he got them from… He volunteered that they all came from a single great source: Constantine. Upon learning this and sharing the information with the authenticators, they all seemed to know Constantine and suspected him to be a master forger. Actually, they expressed that they more than suspected. This was news to me and very interesting, something to file away in the back of my mind in case Constantine ever tried to consign autographs to us.
 
OK, well, that’s part one of the story. Part two is a little shorter: The problem autographed items are returned. But a year or so later, chatting with a New York-based FBI agent about another unrelated forgery investigation, he asked me out of the blue if I happened to know anything about this “Constantine.” Apparently, he did!  I didn’t have much but had the story above. The agent indicated that he was not surprised at all, but noted that actually catching these guys is a lot tougher than people realize. It’s not enough to “know.” You’ve got to be able to PROVE that someone is a forger. Which is a very tall order. And just because authenticators identified his items as forgeries actually “proves” nothing. And anyone can get stuck with a forged autographed item. Or claim to. Proof – real proof - was a whole different level and inherently a great source of frustration when dealing with a clever and knowledgeable forger.
 
But from the inquiry I learned that “Constantine” was on the FBI’s radar. And that there probably was something to it all. All information just naturally filed away.
 
Interestingly, over the years I had few but always pleasant communications with Constantine. I even accepted some direct auction consignments from Constantine. No autographs. Just cards. He actually consigned a complete set of T3 Turkey Red Tobacco premium cards to the auction once. These are great cards that were worth tens of thousands even long ago. Constantine also bought items in the auction. Which is not surprising because he was a collector and a dealer. Nothing big. He was always a gentleman in my very limited communications and dealings.

But by now, (as far as I’m concerned, right or wrong) I’ve got to assume Constantine is a master forger. This didn’t cause me to do anything differently. I only saw him at shows (and I didn’t even go to many shows anymore), and he never consigned any autographs to me. So it was kind of a non-issue. But it was always in the back of my mind that if I was ever offered items to auction that, for any reason, I thought might have come from him, to be on the lookout and avoid them. The dealership that consigned the “Constantine Mantles”…I just didn’t let them submit for potential auction autographed items that might have come from Constantine. This would save us the trouble of returning them to the consignor, save us from the potential for any being accidentally approved for our auction by the human authenticators, and save us lots of time because due to catalog production and auction scheduling. A lot of work such as photography, most of the descriptions (pending authentication), and often even catalog layout is done before the authenticators review items. That's a lot of work. Those autographed items that are knocked out due to being rejected by authenticators are then just removed from the system and the auction and returned. Of course it’s very desirable to not have to invest time and effort into processing items for auction that are not going to be in the auction. But if one has a lot of autographed items consigned, there are always going to be some that are rejected and pulled. That comes with the territory.    
 
Fast forward to an REA auction-in-progress. One of the lots is group of 12 Official American League baseballs from the 1960s (American League “Cronin” baseballs, the style in use from 1960 to 1973 to be exact; see screenshot illustration above).  These baseballs are still in their original boxes and have never been touched or even exposed to light since packaged. They are very collectible and valuable in this form. Not a fortune valuable. They aren’t thousands of dollars each. But at the time they were worth $50 to $100 each. Common sense tells us that theoretically baseballs like these could be “great raw material” for a forger. But then again, so could just about anything old. It just so happens, though, that baseballs (especially Official Major League baseballs) with a single signature on them are considered the ideal form of autograph by many collectors. Despite being the easiest to forge. (One single well-executed forged signature on a baseball is much easier to create and potentially get by authenticators than many fake signatures together on a baseball). And single-signed baseballs sell for a substantial premium to most other items signed by the same player, sometimes 100 times. There are a lot of single-signed baseball collectors out there.

Whenever I see unopened vintage baseballs offered at auction, I’ve always wondered if they ever fall into the hands of forgers. So, with this very substantial group unsigned never-touched original vintage Major League baseballs offered in my own auction, I took note: who should be bidding on these baseballs?

Low and behold...

Constantine. 
 
My wheels were naturally spinning…I knew it was very difficult to catch a professional forger red-handed but this seemed like a special opportunity was possibly presented. I wasn’t sure exactly what this opportunity was - that is, how one might proceed - but I was sure it was there. Possibly, anyway. 
 
All at once, in a millisecond, I had a plan.  I contacted the FBI agent who had asked about Constantine, explained the situation, and pitched him this idea:

I told him that I thought Constantine would win the unopened baseball lot no matter how high it went. If he won the lot, as soon as the auction was over but before his bill was paid, I would send the baseballs in to be marked in an invisible manner that would not in any way hurt the baseballs, but allow them to be identified. I had no doubt the boxes could easily be opened and then resealed. PSA/DNA has a way of marking the balls that is invisible. The markings can only be detected by PSA using a special infrared laser light. This technology would be perfect for marking the balls, especially since (if used as the canvass for forgeries) it was most likely PSA would eventually see these very baseballs in the future. But instead of being blank, they would be graced with forged signatures if indeed that was the buyer’s intention. (PSA is a leader in autograph authentication services, and uses this invisible PSA/DNA technology to mark autographed items they authenticate.) 
 
The FBI agent got back to me the next day and said if I could do this, they were in! They would like to execute this exactly as suggested. This was very exciting to me. Sort of like being in a sting operation in a movie. I didn’t know 100% if Constantine was going to win the lot, of course. And if he did, and the balls were marked inside “unopened” boxes (that were actually opened and expertly resealed), there was no guarantee that anything would come of it. But it was exciting and certainly had potential.

As I recall, I was able to FedEx the balls directly to the FBI. But interestingly (to me, anyway) when they were returned to me after being marked (to send to the winner), they had to be hand-delivered by the agent personally to protect and document the chain of custody of the balls as a legal precaution, which was apparently very desirable should anything develop from this plan, and the baseballs were used as evidence in a future legal proceeding. Which the FBI clearly thought might happen or why would they even bother to do this. (There was a lot of time and effort invested by the agent in charge to make this happen. And no doubt lots of paperwork involved too).

Once in the their possession, the boxes were opened, and the baseballs inside were delivered by the FBI to Joe Orlando (then President of  PSA), who arranged to have them all marked (as I recall they were marked with characters clearly identifying them as “FBI” baseballs, possibly also the date or some other code, and also individually numbered to differentiate each ball from one another).  Everything had to be kept very much under wraps at PSA. Information about this entire process was available only on a need-to-know basis at PSA in order to keep the plan from somehow leaking and undermining the potential success of the exercise. My small office was instructed to not say a word to a soul.

Before Constantine’s check arrived, I had the balls back in hand, looking like baseballs in perfectly sealed, never-opened boxes. When I sent them out to the buyer upon receiving payment, I sent them in a way that required a signature so that Constantine’s receipt was well documented. He personally signed for the package. 
 
And then the waiting began. Soon we pretty much had  forgotten all about it. Months  passed. 
 
Until one day…I got a call from the National Convention. …”We got him!” 
 
I wasn’t at the show, but I was told that Constantine had personally submitted some autographed baseballs to PSA DNA right there at the convention. I’m not sure how many, but was told that one “auction lot” marked baseball was submitted for authentication, that now had the (expertly forged) signature of Ken Boyer, who passed away decades earlier in 1982 (A single-signed Ken Boyer baseball is rare, in large part because of his early passing at only 51 years old. Examples have sold for thousands of dollars at auction).  From the perspective of Constantine…he probably chose the National to submit to PSA in person because the turnaround time is quickest, they authenticate items right there at the show, and from a forger’s perspective, he probably thought authentication at a show (as opposed to by mail) also gave him the best shot of having his forgeries slip by the authenticators. Maybe because the authenticators would be so overwhelmed and rushed. (I’m not even saying this is the case, just that I can see a submitter thinking this is the case.) Submitters are right there at the show too. So a forger might even think (almost certainly incorrectly but authenticators are human too) that perhaps he would have an opportunity to “lobby” for a positive result in person with lies about provenance. Also, my guess is he hoped that as his forgeries were authenticated one at a time (along with other actually real items for "camouflage"), upon picking it up after authentication he could then immediately submit another forgery for authentication (so the authenticators would not have numerous forgeries from Constantine at the same time).  
 
The FBI was very pleased and I was told they raided Constantine’s home with a warrant, searching for and seizing forgeries and evidence. It sounded exciting! But I was only given snippets of information as a courtesy. Being a civilian I was not privy to comprehensive details. I assumed this was the beginning of a very successful forgery case. They literally caught him red-handed! They had lots of evidence! Bank records! Everything! I remember an agent expressing great amazement to me that Constantine had so much money in the bank. Apparently he had A LOT of money, though I was never told how much. The implication of course was that some (or all) of this money was the result of illegal activity. At least that is how I interpreted it from context. 
 
But days turned into weeks turned into months and nothing happened. Eventually I called to ask “what the heck is going on with Constantine? When am I going to be reading about the indictment?” 
 
I have no idea why - I’m sure there was a good reason - but it was never shared with me and there never was an indictment. I could not be told the details but was told that while there was not going to be an indictment, “We’re never going to hear from Constantine again. His forging days are over.” 
 
And indeed…Constantine was never heard from again. Once a hobby fixture, I’ve never even heard his name mentioned since. Except by the few people involved. 
 
So where is Constantine now? He still lives at the same home. I can see that by checking online. I think he’s doing well and I know he has other interests (that are legal and positive!) 
 
I know that Constantine will eventually see this post. 
 
Here’s my message to Constantine for when that happens:
 
Hey Constantine,..from this blog post you have learned the details of exactly how it came to be that you were “busted.” From my perspective anyway. Obviously, participating in this sting was nothing personal. Our communications were few and positive and respectful. I've helped stop the careers of many criminals in the collecting world over the years. In this case, it happened to be you.

As I’m sure you know from your active days in the collecting world, I have always invested a great deal of energy and effort to educate and protect collectors from being cheated, to make the hobby a safer and better place for everyone. I am going to great pains to not identify you because that would serve no purpose. I like to keep this blog positive and amusing! And I also think everyone deserves a second chance. But I do want to  share (and have documented somewhere) what to me is a fascinating story.
 
I have no idea how you got involved in this forgery “business.” I’m sure there’s a story there too. I appreciate that (to the best of my knowledge) you have completely left these forgery activities to the past. I’d like to think that I may have saved you from a far worse fate than otherwise. Imagine if you had NOT been caught by the sting. Who knows what would have eventually happened, if and when you were caught. My guess is you would have gone to prison. And you might be there to this day. Instead, you stopped and moved on. That sounds like a win not just for the collecting world, but for you personally. Good luck to you in your future positive and legal endeavors.
 
So that’s the story (well, all that I know from my perspective) of stopping “Constantine The Forger” Cold In His Tracks. It’s a pretty unusual, maybe even unique story relating to forged autographs in the baseball collecting world.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this story.
I have enjoyed writing it!

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson

[email protected]

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