Continuing a Tradition

1933 Goudey #21

I spent a lot of time over the holiday break discussing family traditions with my five-year-old son, Doug.  He loves hearing about the Christmas traditions I shared with my parents and my sister while I was growing up, and we often talk about how our little family is starting its own Christmas traditions.  After he fully understood the meaning of the word, he informed me that, "Traditions make me happy."

One of the Christmas traditions that always made me happy was the annual "Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim" tradition.  As a younger lad, I'd attend baseball card shows throughout the year with my Dad and he would always manage to sneak off and make a few secret purchases that would wind up under the tree on Christmas morning.  He'd also procure cards via mail order or, in more recent years, he'd scour eBay for cards for my collection.  He and my Mom would spend all year squirreling away cards in order to make the annual "Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim" tradition possible.

My Dad had been sick over the past few Christmases, so this tradition quietly faded over the past few years.  He passed away in October after a long, courageous battle.

1949 Bowman #30

My Mom, a reader of this here very blog, decided that some traditions should continue.  So, without me knowing it, she familiarized herself with my wantlists and she started making a few calls.  With the help of Kit Young, Dean's Cards and Dave's Vintage Cards, and with my vintage Phillies wantlists and 1971 Topps list in hand, she went to work.

You can imagine my shock and surprise this Christmas when I unwrapped a shoebox from my Mom and opened it to find a few dozen individually wrapped items with the exact dimensions of what must be baseball cards in top-loaders.  I spent the next half hour unwrapping each treasure only to find several 1971 Topps cards that I needed for my set and a wonderful collection of vintage Phillies cards spanning from 1933 to 1955.

The two cards featured here were the oldest cards in the lot, and I'm going to feature the rest of the cards in posts spread throughout the next few weeks.  My Mom told me she actually had fun tracking down these cards and I'm certainly extremely grateful for the continuation of the "Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim" tradition.

Dad would be proud of her.  Traditions make me happy.