Todays Antique Show Finds

[slidekellyslide]

Well the quarterly state fairgrounds antique show was today so I got up early and headed down. I've had some luck at this show in the past. Last year I picked up a Federal League postcard for $10-15 and a Brown & Bigelow Honus Wagner deck of cards for $20. I've never seen much in the way of equipment except for vastly overpriced gloves. Today I was able to come away with a Pioneer League Baseball with red and green stitching with almost no wear on it, an unused Kep Harding "Special League" baseball from probably the 1950's or earlier. (I've never seen one of these before) an old wool baseball cap, and a Hutch Bill Werber glove all from the same dealer for $80. I talked to another lady who told me she has "scads" of old baseball stuff from equipment to catalogs, but it's all packed away. She gave me her card and told me to call her before the next show and she'll dig some of it out. I stopped by another table that had a Goldsmith catcher's mitt with a really nice label circa 1920, but I thought the condition of the glove wasn't worth $45. There was also a dealer with a uniform for $59, but it was probably 1950-60's Wilson and it had no markings on the jersey so I passed. I stopped by one of the dealers that I've known for quite a few years and he had a box with about 500-600 Topps 1963-1972 cards for $250. I looked through it, and it had some star cards in it - Billy Williams, Yaz, et cetera and thought it might be a good deal for someone. It was gone about 5 minutes after I looked at it. He also had a Milton Bradley Baseball game that I couldn't find a date on, but was almost certainly 19th Century that he wanted $300 for - I passed on that too, because I think it would probably go for less on ebay. Overall a pretty good show - I look forward to the March show and the lady who said she had "scads" of stuff.

[vintagesportscollector]

Thanks for sharing Dan. You got some real nice pickups and sounds like you had a fun day. Can you post some pics? Would especially like to see the Pioneer ball and the cap.

-Joe

[slidekellyslide]

I took some pics, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow....apparently I left my usb cable at work.

[slidekellyslide]

Here's a picture of the baseballs:

[slidekellyslide]

Here's a photo with the Werber glove and the old hat:

[mjkm90]

Great write up Dan. I felt like I was right there with you. It's amazing how hearing stories like this get the collecting juices flowing. You did well in the find department. I also agree with passing on the pieces you didn't pick up. There was a day when all of us purchased whatever we found (except Aaron...ha ha).

[vintagesportscollector]

Was geeked by Dan's antique market account too. I took the train last night to Boston for a meeting today. Watched "Eight Men Out" and "The Natural" on DVD on my laptop(DVD's were Xmas presents). Love those movies. Hadn't seen them in a long while and it got me jazzed to go home and slap on some wool and leather. I was on the lookout for historical inconsistencies with equipment and the like when watching the movies. For example, I think (not positive) in The Natural they were using a multi-colored stitched ball in the NL in 1939...the ONL Ford Frick Spalding ball in 1939 was all red stitching.