Night Owl Cards

  I come from a generation that made a big deal about thank you letters. I get why they did, but I didn't like writing them. Every year after Christmas, my mom got on me and my brother to write thank you's to grandmothers or aunts or whoever for sending whatever. I think sometimes I pulled out some paper and pen and scrawled a few lines, but I don't remember doing it that often so it's possible I just plain skipped it most of the time. Ever since then I've been a bit hesitant with thank you's. I'm all right saying it in person -- you have to do it a lot and I think it's a little easier to say it than to write it, at least for me. That seems odd, since I am a writer. I have a lot to be thankful for, of course, and in the hobby, especially. I don't have a high-paying job or grew up in a well-to-do family and never actively pursued a lucrative career. So it's amazing to me that I have the collection that I do. I owe a lot of it to you. So here's...

This is my address book with the addresses of people who have traded cards with me through the mail. I bought it maybe three months into my blogging career when I realized that you didn't just blog about cards but you actually blogged about cards that people sent you, too. It's definitely an old-school way to file addresses. But then this is an old-school hobby and I'm still a guy who thinks if I put critical information on the computer without a physical backup, I'm going to lose everything. I never got around to getting the addresses on some sort of word document so the address book has all kinds of updates and cross-outs and ... well, it's a disaster, basically. You people move, a LOT. However, I consider this book a tribute, a tribute to everyone who has ever sent me cards. And although not everyone in this book has a blog (or had a blog), it is also a tribute to blogging and trading through the blogs. Lately I've seen people gravitate toward Trad...

Happy Thanksgiving! Last year, for the first time in many, many years, I did not take the week of Thanksgiving off. With the way work is trending, it's looking more and more impossible to take a break at this time (the high school football season seems to get longer and the high school winter sports season seems to start earlier. Somebody please take it down a notch). This year, out of habit, I took the week off again. I almost regretted it. But I think I can get out of this week unscathed with only a quick dart into the office tomorrow. Eh, beats shopping on Black Friday anyway. Anyway, with just a little bit of extra time this year, I wanted to see if I could find a card in my collection that represents every food item in a traditional Thanksgiving meal. It wasn't that difficult to do. Good thing, because I was getting hungry at the end of card searching. This is what I found. Turkey. No brainer. Find your closest Turkey Red card. I like my Turkey Red card...

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers and friends. Tonight, I have for you a quick look at a quirky little oddball set from Mr. Turkey. Mr. Turkey, for those of you who may not know, was/is a division of Sara Lee Foods and a trademark for the company's production of turkey and other meat products. I've never seen its food products for sale and don't know if it's still around. Most of what I turned up online was about a scary listeria outbreak in the late 1990s. Sorry to bring that up on this holiday. The Mr. Turkey Superstar set was issued in 1992 and featured a star player from each of the 26 major league teams at the time. Cards were printed on the meat carton and also sold individually by mailing into the company. (That seems a little more sanitary). As you can see, the cards are gloriously unlicensed with a pinstripe design. But the best part is it brands some well-known unpleasant players as certifiable turkeys! Darryl Strawberry is the Dodgers' ...