sole survivor

bbcard_web

 

TITLE? [sole survivor]
bill nattress, born in 1878, played baseball for twelve seasons, eight  
of those with the minor league buffalo bisons. i’m not a baseball fan  
but i started collecting baseball cards in the winter of 1985. i had  
been fired from my job in houston, texas, and moved back to rhode island  
to look for a job. i was living with—or i should say freeloading off—a  
friend. we went to a local flea market in warwick, rhode island, and as  
i walked around I saw one dealer with a case containing dozens of these small  
baseball cards. tobacco cards, as i learned. they measure approximately  
1 1/4 by 2, so they fit neatly in a cigarette package. i had never  
seen anything like them. i fell in love with their simplicity and  
beauty. i bought a few that day and began learning about these  
beautiful cards. i discovered that this series of cards contained the  
famous honus wagner card, considered by collectors to be the most valuable baseball card. why? it seems mr. wagner did not smoke and he refused to  
have his name associated with selling tobacco, so very few exist.  
this was 1909. i began collecting this series called t206, which  
contains over 500 different cards. i discovered baseball card shows  
and a whole other world of which i was ignorant. these cards were  
amazing and relatively inexpensive. I think I paid twenty dollars for  
my nattress card at that time. of course the honus wagner was hundreds  
of thousands, but not millions as it is today. my most valuable card was a ty  
cobb. i paid 130 dollars for it. eventually, i accumulated a little  
over 100 of these cards. time passed and my interest faded as they  
became more expensive. i hung onto them until I need some cash. in the  
spring of 1993, i planned to propose to my girlfriend and needed funds for an  
engagement ring. (i am a holdover from the old south and felt that i  
needed a ring to propose.) to pay for the ring i sold my collection  
of t206 cards. mr. nattress is the sole survivor.
http://www.honuswagner.com/viewheadline.php?id=4198
bill nattress, born in 1878, played baseball for twelve seasons, eight  of those with the minor league buffalo bisons. i’m not a baseball fan  but i started collecting baseball cards in the winter of 1985. i had been fired from my job in houston, texas, and moved back to rhode island to look for a job. i was living with—or i should say freeloading off—a friend. we went to a local flea market in warwick, rhode island, and as i walked around I saw one dealer with a case containing dozens of these small baseball cards. tobacco cards, as i learned. they measure approximately 1 1/4 by 2, so they fit neatly in a cigarette package. i had never  seen anything like them. i fell in love with their simplicity and beauty. i bought a few that day and began learning about these beautiful cards. i discovered that this series of cards contained the famous honus wagner card, considered by collectors to be the most valuable baseball card. why? it seems mr. wagner did not smoke and he refused to have his name associated with selling tobacco, so very few exist. this was 1909. i began collecting this series called t206, which contains over 500 different cards. i discovered baseball card shows and a whole other world of which i was ignorant. these cards were amazing and relatively inexpensive. I think I paid twenty dollars for my nattress card at that time. of course the honus wagner was hundreds of thousands, but not millions as it is today. my most valuable card was a ty cobb. i paid 130 dollars for it. eventually, i accumulated a little over 100 of these cards. time passed and my interest faded as they became more expensive. i hung onto them until I need some cash. in the spring of 1993, i planned to propose to my girlfriend and needed funds for an engagement ring. (i am a holdover from the old south and felt that i needed a ring to propose.) to pay for the ring i sold my collection of t206 cards. mr. nattress is the sole survivor.

one of a few pairs

lr_shoes_1golf

i bought this golf shoe in 2004 designed by miharaya shuhiro for puma. smart and simple. even a place for your golf tee. the toe protected from moisture. it never made it to the course. my handicap. living in new york.

step and repeat

cigarband_11

repetition. i love when someone has amassed a collection of a particular item and pasted it down in a book. in this case, it’s cigar bands. i’m not usually attracted to tobacciana but I find that I have several such collections: matchbox labels, old cigarette packaging. this wonderful album of cigar bands was collected by hazel wagner and is dated october 30, 1907. there are 30 pages of wonderful examples, many using stone lithography and lots of gold, which seems to the main requirement. my father smoked cigars and whenever i smell a cigar i think of him. however i never saved or collected the bands. frankly, they weren’t as nice as these. i believe there used to be the international seal, label and cigar band society but i could not find it. i didn’t try too hard except for the quick google search but I did locate the cigar band museum which might be worth a visit if you’re interested. enjoy another one of my collections of a collection.
cigarband_2

cigarband_closeup

cigarband_3

a special specimen

typespec_frnbaccover_web
type specimens represent a whole category of book collecting. i have a few in my design library but i do not collect them per se. accidentally accumulate is more like it. surely designers roger black, jonathan hoefler and matthew carter have many, many fine examples. this particular type specimen comes from a special place and a unique person. i have had it for more than a dozen years. as a student at the yale school of art i became friends with one of my professors, paul rand. mr rand and i both collected all things written and designed by jan tschichold. on a particular visit to mr rand’s home he asked me to sit down, said he had something to show me. he went back to his library and returned with a completely tattered old book. the spine was broken and it was in a horrible state. of course i loved it.

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