4. USPS Honors Baseball Sluggers in New Stamp Release
While not vintage themselves, a group of baseball-themed postage stamps recently released by the United States Post Office honors four "vintage" batsmen. The players are Roy Campanella, Hank Greenberg, Mel Ott and Mickey Mantle. All are found in sheets of twenty 39-cent stamps that can be purchased at your local post office. They add a vintage flavor for today's collectors that still like to send correspondence the old fashion way.
The four Hall of Fame sluggers were immortalized on postage stamps at Yankee Stadium's home plate last month in a ceremony held before a sellout crowd of more than 54 thousand prior to the opening pitch of a New York Yankees vs Chicago White Sox game. Family members of all four players attended the event. These included Mantle's sons Danny and David; Campanella's daughter Joni Roan; Greenberg's daughter, Alva, and Ott's daughter, Barbara Ott-Schneidau.
Artist Lonnie Busch of Franklin, NC, designed the "Sluggers" stamps based on historic photographs, then simplified and adapted the portraits to resemble vintage baseball cards. The 39-cent "Baseball Sluggers" stamps are available in sheets of 20 (the four player designs are repeated five times). A companion set of 24-cent "Baseball Sluggers" pre-stamped postal cards are also available in booklet sets of twenty.
Most vintage card collectors are well aware of the career accomplishments of the four Hall of Famers represented on the stamps. But just as a reminder, the following is summarized from the USPS release:
Mickey Mantle was a famous switch-hitter whose powerful home runs were matched by his impressive speed as a runner and outfielder. Synonymous with the New York Yankees for nearly two decades, Mantle was enormously popular with baseball fans. Fifty years ago Mantle earned the Triple Crown when he led the American league in batting (.353), homers (52) and RBIs (130). He is still considered one of the greatest players ever to take the field.
Roy Campanella, who was Major League Baseball's first African-American catcher, played with the Brooklyn Dodgers. A talented all-around player, he hit 242 home runs during his ten-year Major League career. A catcher in five World Series, he was named MVP three times.
Hank Greenberg is remembered as Major League Baseball's first Jewish superstar and one of the all-time greatest right-handed batters. The Bronx, NY, native was named MVP twice: once as a first baseman, and a second time as an outfielder. He had a career batting average of .313 and 1,276 RBIs. He was selected to four consecutive All-Star teams from 1937 to 1940.
Mel Ott is remembered for his easygoing demeanor and his unusual but powerful high-leg-kick batting stance. Ott distinguished himself with the New York Giants for 22 seasons and was the first National League player to hit 500 home runs. He led the league in home runs six times.
The full text of the USPS release can be viewed in PDF format from the Postal Service website.
5. The "Philly Show"?...Still To Be Determined
With the 2006 National Sports Collectors Convention now history, many vintage collectors are now wondering when and where the next "Philly Show" will take place. Considered by many vintage collectors to be a close second in importance to the National, the four-times-per-year Philly Show is now looking for a new home. As a result, the previously scheduled September 29 - October 1, 2006 Fall event has been cancelled.
The final show for 2006, planned for December 1-3, is still on but at this time (early August) remains homeless.
The show's promoter, Bob Schmierer, was unavailable for comment as we prepared this eNewsletter. According to hobby buzz, however, a tentative site has been found but details have not yet been finalized or announced. The show's website promises that any news on future shows will be posted there, but lists all details as "TBD." It has been about thirty days since the website was last updated and it offers no hints about where the next show will take place.
Under the title of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, the event is better known simply as the "Philly Show." It began in September 1975 at Spring Garden College as an annual event. It moved to the George Washington Lodge in Willow Grove, PA in March 1978 as a twice annual show. The show grew to a three-per-year event in 1988, then further expanded to four shows annually (March, May, September and December) in 1990. The show relocated to the Fort Washington (PA) Expo Center in March 1993 where it has remained until earlier this year.
Old Cardboard will continue to track the progress of the search for a new home and update our events calendar as soon as details about the next show are announced. You may also want to check the "Philly Show" website for any future updates.
Lyman and Brett Hardeman
Old Cardboard, LLC.
Old Cardboard, LLC. was established in December, 2003, to help bring information on vintage baseball card collecting to the hobbyist. Produced by collectors for collectors, this comprehensive resource consists of three components: (1) Old Cardboard Magazine, (2) a companion website at www.oldcardboard.com and (3) this eNewsletter. The Old Cardboard website contains more than 500 pages of descriptive reference information for baseball card sets produced fifty years ago or longer. Each of these set summaries has a direct set-specific link to 
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