Night Owl Cards

 (Greetings on another snowy day outside my window. Often at this time of year, as the snowblowers hum in the streets, I switch on the Australian Open telecast and remind myself it's summer somewhere. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 318th in a series): I haven't posted hardly at all about the 1956 Topps set since I completed it almost two years ago. The most recent post specifically mentioning '56 Topps cards was in May of 2021 -- one month after completing the set -- with a couple cards I found at a flea market. I don't like that I haven't mentioned them much. That '56 binder is pretty much the crown jewel of the collection and it's the only binder where when I open it I am blown away by the cards in it. I own these? When did that happen? So I thought I'd return to the set ... with what are probably the two most unimpressive cards in it. Topps weirdly devoted cards to the American and National League presidents during the back half of the ...

Over the first nine or 10 years of writing this blog I wondered what it would be like to collect cards and have money at the same time. Oh, I wasn't destitute. I had a home and a job. Same home and job I have now. But the money just wasn't there. The kid took up a lot of cash and so did the house and the car and the pet. My job paid (and continues to pay) less than a lot of teachers make. I had enough leftover money for small card purchases here and there, three-times-a-year card shows (if the cash was there) and periodic trips to the card aisle. I wasn't left wanting. People sent me cards from everywhere, more-than-generous gifts in the mail, packages that included cards I only dreamed of owning. But still, what would it be like? What would it be like to have extra money to play with in this hobby? I'm still wondering. The kid's college doesn't pay for itself. And that roof repair is overdue. But 2019 has been good to me in making sure a little ext...