Silence is Golden (My first taste of tobacco cards)

 I AM A BIG FAN OF YARD SALES AND FLEA MARKETS!!!

Much to the chagrin of my wife. Why?? You never know what treasures you might find. If I get the chance, I am going to stop if I see one. It was something my mom would do every weekend and I would ride with her. I guess you could say it is ingrained in me to have the urge. With that being said, I want to talk about my first experience with 80 year old tobacco cards.

It was during an off day in the late 90's. My wife and I had stumbled across a yard sale out in the middle of nowhere in South Carolina. It had a lot of old items which jumped out at me so I had to stop. Needless to say as I looked, nothing stood out as a good buy. Then I saw this small box on the table. When I opened it, I got my first taste of card history.



I didn't know much about strollers cigarettes but I did know silent movies. I had see some of their movies and knew who they were. Here I was looking at 23 cards from the Strollers Cigarette and a couple from the American Caramel Company. The cards were from the 20's but they were in very good shape. I doubted if I could afford these but I had to ask how much. I knew nothing about the value. The couple looked in the box and said they knew nothing about the cards so how about five dollars.
  



Five dollars?!?!? That to me was a real bargain. I jumped at the chance to own a piece of history. To this day, I have never found out the value of the cards but I have done my best to preserve them. Today I share them with you. I have receieved more tobacco cards since then but I will always cherish my first time aquiring some.


What cards finds have you had that you still cherish?
Until next time, Stay WIRED, INSPIRED and a little bit TIRED.




Comments

  1. MattMarch 10, 2026 at 12:03 PM

    That's a very cool find for $5!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Spacy32March 10, 2026 at 5:35 PM

    I have found more tobacco cards since then but they are usually $1.50 each.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ginko-5March 10, 2026 at 7:32 PM

    I thought for a second you were referencing a song by my favorite band, Lifehouse.
    'Silence is golden, but I think it's gonna kill me now.'
    I posted about them last year using the title Silence is Golden

    ReplyDelete
  4. Spacy32March 10, 2026 at 7:51 PM

    I will have to find that post but in the 60's (before my time) there was also a song called Silence is Golden. I always tell my kids silence is golden but duct tape is silver.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#1 Opening a 1974 Topps Football Fun Pack

Image
  Welcome to my first post. I guess this title might be better as you get what you pay for. Today, I received a pack of 1974 Topps football from an auction site.  I was overjoyed with the find and paid the 10+ dollars to have the item sent to me. I know I should have real the description but I was looking forward to finding those elusive hard to get cards. When I opened the pack, I only found gum and two cards.  Two Cards ?!?! Did I miss something? Those wax packs usually have ten cards. Now i get to go back and do the research. There in the description is the word FUN PACK. Fun pack?!?! What's the fun in only finding two cards and a destroyed piece of gum? Needless to say, I have been collection cards since the late 70's. I have never come across anything like this. To a collector, this is inhumane. Ten plus dollars for two cards that don't even hit the $2 mark combined. I am happy to get the cards as I only have a few from that set, but I was hoping for a few more cards...
Read more

#2 Opening a 1984 Donruss Baseball Pack

Image
 Welcome to post number two. Those of you who read Tuesdays post were aware of my auction mistake with the 1974 Topps Football. Now we get to the other half of that win. Today I present a 1984 Donruss baseball pack. This is one of my favorite Donruss sets. The pictures were crisp. The design was simple and there were tons of great players. My goal with this one was to get the card that has illuded me from this set: Card Number 249 Don Mattingly's rookie. I had the Fleer copy until I left for the army and my sister needed cigarette money (Note to younger collectors, DO NOT put all your best cards in one small box. People think it's small so you won't miss it). This was my chance to get some redemption. Some people say, "Why not just go buy the card?" My answer is I like the thrill of the chase. Every pack I open is a treasure hunt hoping to get that illusive card that will complete my set. Not to mention needing the wrapper which I may discuss in a later post. With...
Read more

#3 Heroes for the Ages (A Memorial)

Image
    Today I want to ask a question. What makes someone a hero? Is it a great feat they have done that shines on for them? I would like to talk about my hero today as I show some special cards.     When I was born, my parents were told that I would never walk. My dad worked and worked with me for years. He was determined to prove those doctors wrong. At the age of almost four he had succeeded and I began taking steps. It went so well that I played softball for sixteen years on knees that were not supposed to work.  My dad worked hard to support a large family. I had 5 brothers and sisters so times were often touch and go when it came to finances. My dad worked third shift and rotated his sleep schedule. If the kids had something in the morning, he slept in the evening and vice versa. He was always there to keep us straight and support us. When my parents took us shopping, if we were good, we got our choice of a drink or a candy bar. We only lived eight miles from...
Read more