Here's the Story

Graduation is near as the school year inches ever closer to an end.  Kids are restless, staring out windows instead wistfully and wishing they could be outside carousing in the increasingly summer like weather (or playing Fortnite, whatever kids do these days).  Teachers are just trying to keep it together, crawling across the finish line as they try to guide these students to summer break.  In just over a week, the 2017-18 calendar will officially conclude, as children and teachers alike celebrate surviving yet another school year.  The end is nigh!

Accordingly, many teachers in our building have begun to straighten up their classrooms in order to get ahead on the upcoming, yearly clean-out .  While summer break is a joyous occasion for student and teacher alike, the latter definitely does not enjoy having to pack up their entire workspace each and every June.  With that in mind, oftentimes, staff will attempt to cast off anything they don't absolutely need for the sake of sparing space and time; those items usually end up in the teacher's lounge, free to a good home.  This week, the tables of the staff sanctuary have been well-stocked with knick-knacks, books, and old teaching resources... a sort of educational yard sale.

Yesterday, while stuffing my lunch in the lounge refrigerator, I noticed what looked like an old card catalog on the microwave counter, next to a stack of worn workbooks.  As a noted cardboard fiend, anything even remotely resembling cards will always catch my attention and this box was no exception:

The "Story of America," eh?  In card form?  Color me intrigued, Uncle Sam.

The note that was tucked under the box stated that the previous owner had these cards tucked away for several years.  Having not taught history for nearly a decade, she decided to finally cut ties and dispose of her former historical teaching tools.  I suppose these bad boys wouldn't be of much use i Algebra, would they? 

So, with plenty of other important, graduation-centric tasks to be done, I - of course - dropped anchor and immediately flipped open the lid.  Well, after stashing my sandwich in the fridge, anyway.

Wow - that's a lot of colorful cards!  I suppose it takes a lot of paper to cover over 200 years of history.

A little cursory research tells me that these reference cards were produced by Grolier, Inc.  Before the days of instantly attainable information on the internet, these sorts of encyclopedic card catalogs were a popular learning tool.  People of a certain age might remember Sportscaster Cards, Safari Cards and Greenhouse Cards which were all pumped out via subscription service.  Groiler's Story of America cards were no different, produced from 1994-2001, updated in yearly fashion.  This particular box appears to date from 1997, as several specific events from that year are referenced throughout the set.

As a former aspiring history teacher, these 4x6 cards might have come in handy had I continued down that path.  However, as a current trading card collector, these intended educational tools turned out to be of use to me on my current path, as well.  As you can see, our massive history is broken down in to several, more easily digestible categories - America at War, Famous Places, Important Events, etc.  Seeing as we are a nation of sports fiends and athletics have often played a key role in the development of our country, it should come as no surprise that they show up fairly often in these cards of America, mostly as part of the "Life in America" subset:

I mean, how can you tell the story of America without discussing, America's national pastime... am I right?

As for the cards themselves, each subsection is color-coded, with "Life in America" being assigned green.  On the left, we have a timeline which dates the event or person spotlighted on the card.  In the middle we have a photograph or artist's depiction; in this particular case, we have a lovely 1887 Aquarelle print titled “Base Ball" - by L. Prang & Co. - representing the gestation of baseball.  Lastly, on the right ,we have the "who, what, when, where" and a visual indicating where in the country this event/person achieved notoriety.

On the backside, we have a detailed account of what's shown on the front, along with some bonus trivia.  As you might be able to read, Grolier opted for the origin story involving Alexander Cartwright (rather than the myth of Abner Doubleday), distilling the complicated and oft-argued story down to a basic paragraph, easy enough for a kid to get the basics.

All in all, I can see how these would make for a great source of quick information in the days before every man, woman, and child had a tiny computer in their pocket at all times.

Baseball shows up a few times in Grolier's box.  Not only is the game covered in the broad sense, but it's also showcased through some of the larger figures in the sport's history... names so notable that they crossed over from the world of sports into the larger cultural zeitgeist.  For instance, like the Hank Aaron which rests at the top of this post.

Or, Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson - two names that even someone with the most minimal knowledge of baseball would most likely recognize.  The Jackie Robinson card, in particular, would have  come in handy back in February, as several classrooms in our building did group projects centered on the Hall of Famer in honor of  Black History Month.  Colloquially, Jackie appears to be one of the most popular subjects, year in and year out, at least as far as I've noticed.

As important as the game is to the USA, baseball wasn't the only sport covered by Grolier in this box:

Of course, hockey is a distinctly Canadian invention, but I suppose America has played a strong hand in it's modern development.  The team depicted is the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans, who became the first American team to win Lord Stanley's Cup.   Speaking of the Stanley Cup, how about those Golden Knights?  Will they pull off the historically improbable feat of winning a major sports championship as an expansion club?

Speaking of topical sports, the month of May is traditionally associated with a certain, specific one-day event:

And I was just blogging about how little cardboard representation the Indy 500 and open wheel racing gets too.  The 102nd running of the most famous event in auto racing will be taking place this Sunday and I cannot wait!

On that note...

NASCAR and Jeff Gordon are both repped by this card describing what occurred during the 1997 running of the Daytona 500, another one of motorsports' crown jewels.  That February, "Wonderboy" became the race's youngest victor, at the tender age of 25 (a record since eclipsed by 20-yr old Trevor Bayne in 2011).  This May, Gordon was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, at the age of 48.  Time flies, doesn't it?

Sidenote - Billy (from Cardboard History), would this count as a NASCAR card for the purposes of your collection?

So far, we've seen Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Jeff Gordon, etc., some of the most recognized names in the history of North American sports.  All in all, this box does a pretty good job of covering the "who's who" in our sporting lineage.  With that said, there's no way that Grolier was going to exclude what may be the BIGGEST name in our sporting history;

After all, in 1997, "Air Jordan" and his Bulls were coming off their fifth of six NBA Championships, with five NBA Finals MVP awards for MJ.  In short, the legend was in the prime of his notoriety when these cards were printed and distributed.  This oddball will make a fine addition to my small, but growing Chicago Bulls collection.

Now, there were many other cards with sporting connections to be found in the "Story of America," but I've chosen to only showcase the ones that appealed to me and my collecting interests.  You better believe, after flipping through the massive deck and finding these awesome oddballs, that I took them home to add to me collection.  After all, they were on the house and my official duty as the school IT person is to do anything I can to help our educating staff.  Sometimes, that goes beyond computers and includes getting rid of stuff for the teachers...well, at least it did yesterday.  Gotta clear that counter-space!

Before I go, I'm left wondering, does anyone else have a stash of these oddities in the collections?  Do you consider educational sets like these to be collectible trading cards?  Have ever used a set of these (or similar products) in your classroom, either as a professional or as a student?  Please feel free to weigh-in on these matters in the comment section below.

In the meantime, here's hoping that more cool stuff shows up in the teacher's lounge as summer break dawns!

The Joy of Christmas Cards

Christmas has come and gone, so I'm a little late with this shout out - but, I hope Angus can find it in his heart to forgive me.

The proprietor of Dawg Day Cards has been somewhat MIA on the blogosphere lately, as real life has gotten in the way over the past few months.  However, everyone's favorite Browns fan has recently returned to our ranks and announced his presence with authority in a round of Christmas packages.  Watching the Browns every Sunday is enough to turn anyone into a bitter mess, but not Angus.  Despite the woes of his favorite sports team, this blogger remains as generous as ever.  One does not need to look any further than the bubble mailer that showed up in my mailbox in the days leading up to Jesus' birthday:

First of all, they came encapsulated in the fabulous Christmas card that you see above, which also contained a lovely note on the inside which I forgot to photograph for the purposes of the blog.  This would have been enough on it's own, as it's a gift that appeals to both myself and my wife, as well.

For me, I absolutely love the ivy-walled artwork chosen for the front flap of this masterpiece and it makes for a unique oddball to my Cubs-themed baseball card collection.  In my wife's case, one of her favorite parts of the holiday season is receiving Christmas cards from our friends and family, bringing Yuletide greetings, well-wishes, and spirited joy as they decorate our mantelpiece... well, book shelf, that is... we live in an apartment, after all.  At any rate, this was something both my wife and I "oohed and aahed" over!

In case you were curious, the print hails from an original piece of work by Darren Hill, titled "Where He Called His Shot" - an obvious nod to Babe Ruth's mythical (and fictional) called home run.  I haven't been able to track down any more of Mr. Hill's work, but I love his peaceful depiction of "The Friendly Confines," despite it being based on the "modern" Wrigley as opposed to the configuration from when the titular event took place.  I wonder if he's published any more work since his partnership with Off-Season's Greetings Card Co. in 1986?  I can't really find any more information on that company either... where did you find this gem, Angus?

It was easy for me to get lost in that Christmas card alone, but, as I mentioned, it came stuffed with further cardboard goodies.  So, let's take a look at what other gifts Angus Claus dropped down my figurative chimney flute.

Let's start with a quick warm-up, like any proper running event - these two track & field singles should do the trick.

By collection of running cards is a project that's been on the back-burner, seeing as it's not a sport that sees much trading card love and harriers do not show up in sets regularly.  Thus, I was thrilled when the University of Arizona's George Young and Team USA's Karl Warner fell out of Angus' mailer.  they're both new faces to be added to that burgeoning collection.  The former won a bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the  steeplechase and held several American records in events ranging from the two mile to the 5k.  The latter ran the third leg in the American 4x400 meter relay team in the 1932 Olympics, taking home the gold when they posted a then-world record of 3:08.2.

I'm sorry, my distance runner nerd side is showing... let's shift gears a little bit with another pair of cards from the 1990 Collegiate Collection set:

Holy moly!  The University of Arizona basketball star, Ken Lofton?  You better believe that's the same Ken Lofton who would go on to patrol the outfield for seemingly every team in Major League Baseball in the 90's and 00's.

Before signing his first pro baseball contract in between his junior and senior year of college, the multi-sport athlete starred on the basketball court for the Wildcats.  In baseball, he regularly lead the league in steals on the basepaths; in basketball, Lofton actually set the UA record for career steals (200) and steals in a season (67) on the hardwood.  Also, fun fact, Kenny is one of four Cubs to have played in the March Madness tournament.

These singles have long been on my want-list for my collection of multi-sport Cubs, a PC which includes Tim Stoddard basketball cards, Matt Szczur football cards, and Ernie Banks golf cards.  Angus is bringing the fire power!

How do you keep that momentum going? By throwing in an autograph, of course!

Billy Blitzer is a scout that worked for the Cubs from the early 80's through the early portion of this decade.  Among his most well-known signings are Shawon Dunston, Jamie Moyer, Derrick May, and Alex Arias.  In 2011, Topps decided to include autographs of scouts in their popular Bowman brand - it's a pairing that makes sense on paper, but I can't imagine prospectors were thrilled when one of their guaranteed hits turned out to be a non-athlete.  On the other hand, I love these sorts of quirks and I'm more happy to scoop them up, odd though they may be.

Speaking of oddballs, the rest of Angus' "Christmas in an envelope" mailing was nothing but:

These three cards might look like ordinary 2017 Flagship base and inserts, but there's more than meets the eye.  As the different photos on the front might have indicated, these are actually singles from the New Era promotional set released by Topps through Lids.  Seeing as my trusty, dusty Cubs cap isn't getting updated anytime soon and I'm not one to drop thirty smackers on headgear anyway, these bad boys simply weren't on my radar, whatsoever.

Now, with Maddux, Bryant, and Schwarber in hand, I have the complete Cubs base team set and half of the inserts from the checklist - not bad!  Also, Kris looks phenomenal in World Series Champion gold!

Speaking of Kris Bryant, one special Topps promotion that was on my radar was National Baseball Card Day.  In fact, I went to multiple different card shops to chase the free packs that were given away during that hallowed holiday.  Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I did not pull a single Cubs card from any of them.  It was quite the letdown.

Well, Angus wasn't going to let that stand.  I did a little happy dance when this NBCD '17 Bryant single fell out of his stocking stuffer!

Continuing the oddball trend, was this small stack of Panini stickers.  I'm still fighting the temptation to stick them all over the walls of our apartment; however, I think that might ruin the Christmas glow that my wife is still joyously basking in.  My landlord might have something to say about that too.

Moving on, before the urges become too strong to overpower:

Angus also tossed in a couple of complete sets of oddities - on the left is the 1985 7Up sponsored, SGA set and on the right is the 1987 Pro Cards Wytheville Cubs collation.

I've long had scattered singles from the former floating throughout my collection, so it's awesome to finally have a complete, team-bagged set to keep intact.  In contrast, I've never possessed a single one of these Wytheville cards, which was the Rookie level team in the Appalachian League for the Cubs of the late-80's.  I'm sure that Angus knows that I absolutely adore minor league cards and threw these into the package accordingly.

Here's a pair of my favorites from the latter.  First, we have Matt Franco, eventual Cubs bench player and nephew of the great Kurt Russell.  Next to him, is the rare shot of the pitching coach pretending to lay down a bunt - seriously, what's not to love about that?  Not to mention, Rick Kranitz went on to become the Big League Cubs' bullpen coach in 2002; so, this goofy single will slot nicely into my coaches binder.  Meanwhile, Franco and several other friends will be targeted for my "Nothing Major" collection of minor league cards of Major League Cubs.

On that note, so will these two concluding pasteboards:

These 1988 Iowa Cubs All Stars would go on to be key contributors for the surprise 1989 NL East Champion Cubs, aka "The Boys of Zimmer."  Dwight Smith would finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting while Mike Bielecki would revive his career as the number two starter on the staff.

Back to the cards, these blue-bordered and beautiful Pro Cards were available, on-site, to patrons of the 1988 AAA All-Star Game in Buffalo, New York and the player information on the back was only two weeks old that day - not bad, considering how long it takes to print and prepare thousands of card sets!  Now, they, like their Wytheville brethren, will be resting comfortably in my minor league Cubs binder.

With that, we've finally reached the conclusion of Angus' seemingly endless Christmas gift.  Seriously, it was like trying to find the bottom of Santa's bag!  Thank you, Angus, for your Christmas spirit and generosity - the package was a thrill to sort through and distribute among the various arms of my collection.  There was no lack of quality cardboard, that's for sure.  I'll be sure to return the favor ASAP.

Also, I made sure to put the Christmas card on prominent display on our mantelpiece.... errr, again, bookshelf.  Here it is, right on the very top, among the other bits of mailable Noel joy on that shelving unit:

A merry late Christmas to you Angus and to all of you out there who are reading this - and a happy new year!

Remember the Name

A name can go a long way in bringing recognition.  For instance, Jorge Soler - it's sounds like a strong, powerful, moniker... one that only a beast of a baseball prospect would hold.  It's a name that, even if you weren't a fan of the Cubs (or, now, Royals) you would probably remember, due to it's unique and almost poetic nature.  Similarly, we here on the blogosphere know that the right page name can make a big difference when it comes to page views - it's the first thing that someone sees when they come across your little corner of the internet, after all.  It has to properly convey what your blog is all about in just a handful of words. 

A couple of weeks ago, Paul decided that his blog name just wasn't cutting the mustard; the loyal Detroit Tigers realized that he wanted the use the web-space for more than just TTM's.  So, he did a little crowd-sourcing to re-brand the blog formerly known as Paul's TTM Blog.  Of course, I threw my hat in the ring... because why not?

My entrant did not win the contest; but, I must admit, I think that Scribbled Ink is one heckuva catchy name.  Even though my suggestion wasn't nearly as good, Paul was still generous enough to send a "thanks for participating" flat-rate mailer my way.  I shutter to think about what the actual winner got as a reward because this participation package was an absolute winner!

Leading off the goodies was this All-Star game ballot from 2008, the last year in which the mid-summer classic was held in the Motor City.  This was a year that the Cubs were actually good and ended up sending eight representatives to Detroit as part of the National League squad.  Thus, this will make a nice, unique bit of memorabilia for my baseball stashes.  Plus it was just fun to flip through and see all of these old, familiar names...  Geoff Jenkins, Cesar Izturis, Xavier Nady... it's been a long time.

The rest of the package was made up of cards, mostly Cubs, including the beautifully blue Topps Chrome Future Stars insert which began the post.  Accompanying Mr. Soler, Paul included some big names from the past:

Kong, the man who beat father time, Steve Trout looking as 80's as ever, and old fan-favorite Starlin Castro.  Not a bad set of quadruplets there.  These are all well-remembered names in the city of Chicago.

On the flip-side, pretty much none but the most depraved of Cubs fans recalls Dave Swartzbaugh.  Accordingly, this 1997 Fleer single represents Dave's only Big League baseball card and will slide nicely into my CATRC binder, replacing the Classic minor league single which previously occupied his slot.  I've been trying to track this guy down for a long time.

Meanwhile, Mark Grace is anything but a forgotten name - "Amazing Grace" is still a revered figure by Wrigley faithful.  He looks pretty darn good on this reflective Gold Label card from the prodcut's original run.  Speaking of gold...

 

 

Paul threw in a bunch of gold parallels too!   

via GIPHY

However. not all that glitters is gold... I'm a fan of shiny medallions, as well:

That's a pretty sweet looking manu-relic of Anthony Rizzo (from 2016 Update), declaring him a possibility to join the 500 Home Run Club before his career ends.  With 166 long balls through his age 27 season, the chance is there - if he averages a little more than 33 homers for the next ten campaigns, this medallion will not be liar.

The medallion wasn't the only hit of the box either; it wouldn't be a package from the proprietor of Scribbled Ink with a little... scribbled ink:

Zonk!

I think we can all agree that one of the best things Panini ever brought to the table was the Hometown Heroes brand; I mean, what other product offers such niche autographic subjects?  This signature is going to look fantastic in my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection binder!

Even with all of that, there were still plenty more gems to be shown off from Paul's mailing:

Here we have a pair of key rookies, a pair of former Chicago sports greats.  I realize that Jake Arrieta isn't officially off of the table for the Cubs, but I'm fairly certain that he's going to want more money and years than Theo and crew are going to be able to offer.  *sigh*

On the bright side, that Joakim Noah rook kicked off a fairly sizable Bulls portion of the package:

 

There were a few new names added to my Bulls All-Time Roster Collection, a binder that's almost exclusively filled by trading partners.  For that, I am eternally grateful!

Along with those additions, "His Airness" made is presence felt:

And his presence was impossible to ignore.  As a Chicagoan who grew up during the 1990's, MJ is absolutely a personal favorite.  Also as a Windy City resident who grew up during that dynastic period, any Jordan card feels more like a gold doubloon than a pasteboard, especially that Star Attractions, die-cut insert from Upper Deck.

That about did it for the hardwood portion of the package; but, at this point, can you believe that there was STILL more to be had!

This package ended up covering three sports with this Jeff Gordon All-Star "SAMPLE" from the 2003 edition of Press Pass.  If you're only going to throw in one NASCAR card, you might as well make it a unique one!

As a big finale, Paul also threw in a nice stash of unopened packs that I'll likely save for a rainy day:

Topps Attax cello packs - these must have been some sort of stadium giveaway... perhaps at Comerica Park?  Also, the Mantle and the Ruth appear to be some sort of special addendum to the set; anybody know what the story is behind them?

There was also a cello pack of Fleer's Authentix "Hot Tickets" from 2005, with Sammy Sosa on the front, to boot.  Again, these die-cut oddities appear to be some sort of SGA - can anyone confirm or deny my suspicions?

Lastly, we have some "Brain Straining Doodlewonkers," which is something that is completely lost on me but looks incredibly amusing.  The artwork on the front reminds me of something that one might see on a re-run of Monty Python's Flying Circus.  I'll save this pack for when I'm having a bad day at work or when I need some cheering up.

With that, we've finally come to the end of Paul's "participation mailer."  Again, I shudder to think about what the actual winner of his "name the blog" contest came away with!

via GIPHY

The only way to top what we saw here, at least in my opinion.

Thank you, Paul, for putting together such a generous mailing... one that kept me entertained and busy sorting and filing for hours.  You're a good egg, sir!  I would also expect a proper thank you gift, if I were you.

Before I go, please allow me to remind you fellow baseball card bloggers and enthusiasts to update your blogroll, favorites, feed, or what have you to include the new name and URL for Paul's blog, Scribbled Ink - https://scribbledinc.blogspot.com.  

There's a lot more to like about that place besides the spiffy new name!