Vintage eye candy

I know my Heritage post is about a week late now, but while you all are waiting for me to get my butt in gear, check out this ebook from Dave Hornish about the early days of Topps cards. The Modern Hobby Guide To Topps Chewing Gum: 1938-1956 gives us a detailed look at Topps trading cards and just about everything else they did in the days before they beat out Bowman and released the first modern sized baseball card set in 1957.

This book has it all. You like history? There's history in there. Looking for checklists and price guides? Yep, it's got those. Want to learn about obscure non-sports issues? You're in luck, there's lots of them. You don't care about all that wordy stuff and just want some eye candy? OH MAH GAWD THE EYE CANDY. Cards, wrappers, advertisements, boxes, photos, even some 65 year old gum is in the book. There's even some old Bazooka Joe comics!

Right now you can download it for free on Dave's blog. If you want to take a look at it before downloading Sportscollectorsdaily.com has it embedded on their site. If you're looking for something to spend money on other than newfangled cards with gimmicks and relics and such, I'm sure there's something in this book that might catch your fancy.

And as long as we're in a vintagey mood right now, don't forget there's a Robert Edward Auctions coming up soon this spring. Request a free catalog and bid on some of the cool old stuff you learn about in Dave's ebook!