I am a set collector. More specifically I collect Topps football base sets. The reason I collect Topps football cards is fairly straight forward. I was an avid collector as a child and I have fond memories associated with collecting football cards.
The first pack of cards I remember opening was a pack of 1974 Topps. It was a Sunday morning after church. On our way home, my grandfather and I stopped at the grocery store in preparation for Sunday brunch. The football cards were near the check-out counter; I asked and he complied.
I remember the smell and the feel of the cards as I opened them. The strange, sweet mix of cardboard and bubblegum and the chalky feel of powdered sugar on the cards. It’s a part of the hobby that is lost in all but memory today. However, every once in awhile, I find a card that’s been well-preserved and has retained enough of the smell to trigger those distant memories.
The only card I remember from that first pack is Chuck Foreman. The Vikings were (and still are) my favorite team. Watching them was (and still is) a Sunday ritual. The entire family would (and still does) gather at my grandparents house after church to have brunch and watch the game. I blame Chuck for my collecting addiction. I still remember the excitement of finding his card in that pack. It somehow made me feel connected to the team. From that day forward, football and card collecting had more meaning.
As the years went by, the Sunday morning ritual of opening cards continued. My grandfather would by me one pack each week during the football season. As my younger cousins grew, they also would receive a pack. It became a Sunday ritual for us to compare and trade cards on Sunday mornings.
After my grandfather’s death, the weekly pack of cards stopped but the tradition of Sunday brunch, football, and trading cards continued. It grew into a serious event for all the cousins. We would set up folding tables in the basement to lay out our cards. As the games played we would open any new packs and share in the excitement of finding our favorite players. After all the packs were opened the trading would begin. Unfortunately, we were all Viking fans so any Viking players always carried a premium.
After I graduated high school, I joined the Army but the tradition continued for many years after I left home. I always enjoyed coming home on leave on joining my younger cousins on trading day. But one by one they too grew and left home. Sunday mornings at Grandma’s still continues to this day, but there is no longer the smell of cardboard and bubblegum.
Toppsology 