1930 album: Mrs. Ruth Greeson

This page of stamped envelopes leaves little doubt as to the owner of the book. 

 

Chronologically, we have here Christmas cards from 1920 and 1921, both To Ruth May, From Miss Carter. A letter postmarked February 3, 1929, addressed to Miss Ruth Martin, Rt, 1 Box #924, So. Jacksonville, FL. The rest, all postmarked between October and December 1930, to Mrs. Ruth Greeson, or Mr & Mrs. Kelley (or K.U.) Greeson (sometimes Greason), 510 Tuttle Street, August, GA. 

It certainly seems that Miss Ruth May Martin of Jacksonville married Mr. Kelley Greeson and moved to Augusta in 1929 or 1930.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, specifically Ancestry.com, we can indeed confirm it. 

Here's 510 Tuttle today. Judging by the chain-link fence and bars on the windows, this is probably not the fancy part of Jacksonville.

In 1962 Kelly and Ruth moved to Keystone Heights, southwest of Jacksonville. Kelly passed away in 1988, but Ruth, who was an accountant, lived until 2000, passing away at the age of 90, a great-great-grandmother. 

 Here is her full obituary. At some point I might try to track down some of these people, though the common names and large cities will make it difficult, not to mention that this information is over 25 years old. I am very curious if John might recognize a name here, particularly the one from Ocala.

(source: https://www.genlookups.com/fl/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/2413)  

 Ruth Greeson
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS - Ruth May Martin Greeson, 90, died Sunday, Nov. 12, 2000.
Born in Bainbridge, Ga., Mrs. Greeson lived most of her life in Jacksonville before moving to Keystone Heights in 1962. She was a past recorder, senior regent and junior graduate regent of the Women of the Moose, Chapter 305 and was an accountant.
Mrs. Greeson is survived by: two daughters, Dawn Greeson Smith Gordon of Charlotte, N.C. and Wanda Greeson Phillips of Jacksonville; a sister Cornelia Harrell of Moorhead City, N.C.; a brother Paul Martin of Ocala; seven grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by her husband of 57 years, Kelly Greeson, and a grandson Kelly H. Smith.
Funeral services for Mrs. Greeson were Nov. 15, 2000 in the chapel of Jacksonville Memory Gardens Funeral Home with the Rev. John Hunt and the Rev. Buddy Friedman officiating. Interment followed in Jacksonville Memory Gardens, Garden of The Last Supper.
Memorial contributions may be made in her memory to Hospice of NE Florida, 4266 Sunbeam Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32257 or Fresh Start Fellowship, Keystone Heights, FL 32656. 

[I'll show the contents of the envelopes in another post. Appeared to mostly be Christmas cards and birth announcements, but they weren't coming out easily so that'll be another post for another time.]
 

Wallet Card in Nashville: Yorke Men's Shop

When I knew I was going to Nashville I did some research on ghost signs in the area to look for. One of the most prominent is one for Yorke Men's Shop. As a much smaller city than New York, there aren't as many people documenting these signs, and one post I saw about this sign doubted that this store had ever existed, so I didn't even plan to take a photo, but I ended up passing by it and so I decided to, just in case it was real. Upon further research, it seems quite possible it is.

Unfortunately the van blocks part of the sign - "If it's new, if it's sharp - we have it." This is in an outdoor mall called the Arcade that was initially opened in the 1920s. Looking it up again, I found this Instagram post from a user named mcarsten with a photograph of the store in 1973, from an article about crime in the Arcade. In the past few years the Arcade, like much of Nashville, has been refurbished and made more tourist-friendly. This sign was revealed in 2019, and it wouldn't be out of character for a fake, retro-looking sign. Mcarsten suggests that the sign had been covered with wood rather than painted over, perhaps explaining why it was in such good shape.
 

Mediocre street trade

Not much pickings in Al's boxes this time. He says he has dozens of long boxes of cards at home, and he brings one or two each time for me to look at, marking them when I'm done so they don't repeat. These boxes are almost always junk wax or maybe recent Topps base cards, very few cards that I need. Stars are almost always gone, and there are virtually never rarities. Sometimes, like today, it's just picking out the very few cards that are not 1988 Donruss or 1992 Score.

Mostly dupes this time; heck, the originals in my collection for a lot of these probably came from his boxes over the years. A Jake Peavy rookie and a bunch of Bowman's mostly 2014.

Still, I came away with four cards I didn't have before, and a card I don't have is a card I need. Jose Bautista rookie and some more Bowman.

 

Burgers or gum? Jack Morris

Last time it was a 3-1 win for Wendy's. Hopefully there are more voters this time!

Like many players in this series, we have a Wendy's card with a spring training portrait and a Topps card with a Tiger Stadium action photo.

Like the whole Tiger team, Jack Morris's 1984 started off with a bang - in his case, a no-hitter on April 7. Morris started the season 10-1, tailed off a bit and finished the regular season 19-11, with a 3.60 ERA. However, he was dominant in October. In three postseason starts, two in the World Series, Morris went 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA. The Hall of Famer pitched 14 seasons for the Tigers, and then spent time with the Twins and Blue Jays, helping both teams win World Series. Overall in 549 games, he went 254-186 with a 3.90 ERA. He has since been an announcer for each of the three teams he won a World Series with.
 

Wood vs. Wood #337

 Last time it was an 8-0 drubbing by 1962. Will this be closer?

Jim Marshall's cap has the logo thoroughly blacked out. However, his inability to properly tuck in his collar allows just enough orange striping to be visible to show that this was a Giants uniform. A slugging first baseman with a decent batting eye but low batting average, he was better suited to today's game than the 1950s and 1960s. In parts of five seasons for five teams, he played in 410 games and hit .242 with 29 HR and 106 RBI. 1962 was the last of those seasons - he was purchased by the expansion Mets in the offseason and actually did well (.344 with 3 HR in 17 games) but was traded to the Pirates in May for Vinegar Bend Mizell. After the season, at the suggestion of the Pirates GM, he moved to Japan and became the first former American major leaguer to play there, hitting 78 HR over three seasons for the Chunichi Dragons. That theoretically freed up a '63 Pirates roster spot for Howie Goss, who was coming off a fine rookie season in 1962. However, in a move that probably frustrated the young fan who wrote "H. Goss" on the top of this card, Goss was traded to Houston right before opening day for Manny Mota. As a player, coach, manager and scout, Marshall had a 70-year career in baseball. He had managerial stints for the Cubs and A's, and was an American scout in Japan in the 1990s. In Japan he became friends with Ichiro Suzuki, advising the young star on his plans to play in the US. Suzuki's father had been a fan of the Dragons, and had a picture of Marshall in their home when Ichiro was growing up. Marshall died in 2025.

1986 was Don Sutton's first spring training as an Angel, and his influence is apparent on Darrell Miller's card, with the young catcher "Suttoning". Nice background with the stadium, the mountain, and possibly a palm tree. Miller played in parts of five seasons for the Angels. In 224 games the backup hit .241 with 8 HR and 35 RBI. After his playing career he became the Angels' Director of Community Relations, and later a scout. Since 2001 he has VP and Director of MLB's Urban Youth Academy in Compton, CA. In 2021 he became the first Black to be ordained as a Catholic Deacon in the Diocese of Orange, performing those duties at St. Juliana Falconieri Church in Fullerton, CA.

Cake or gum? 1977 Larry Bowa

 Last time was a 5-1 win for gum. Who will come out on top this time?

Hostess has Bowa in a spring training shot, with lots of interesting things going on in the background. Topps has him in a batting cage shot, with his Phillies jacket in their unusual purplish red color.

Larry Bowa held several shortstop fielding records during his career and remains the all-time NL leader in fielding percentage. In addition to his excellent glove Bowa had a solid bat. He led the NL in triples in 1971 and hit .375 in the 1980 World Series. Overall, in 2,247 games he hit .260 with 15 HR, 525 RBI and 318 SB. Bowa has been a coach for several teams and had managerial stints with the Padres and Phillies. He is currently Senior Advisor to the Phillies General Manager.

1981 Topps John D'Acquisto

 

The front: At Three Rivers Stadium, posing with his DAC42 glove.

The back: D'Acquisto no-hit the Tacoma Twins that day. The only Tacoma batter to reach base was future Twins manager Tom Kelly, who walked in the sixth inning.

The player: John D'Acquisto pitched ten years in the major leagues from 1973 to 1982. In 1974, he was the National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year. Overall in 266 games (92 starts) for six teams, he went 34-51 with 15 saves and a 4.56 ERA.

The man: D'Acquisto was involved in a wide variety of business ventures after his playing career, and is a published author and artist. He shared his thoughts on baseball cards with this blog in 2010.

My collection: I have 11 of his cards, from 1974 to 1983. I would be interested in trading for 1982 TCMA Richmond Braves #4.
 

Bimonthly roundup

It's been over two months since I did one of these posts  . . . 

A nice vintage trade with cdorso, TCDB.

Fun mix of cards from Randy Welk, OBC.

Elston Howard rookie! eBay

'65 Rose! eBay

10 OPC cards from  OBCer Scott Jensen.

Really nice Koufax oddball, '63 Fleer. eBay

Semi-high number cards from Casey Branton, OBC.

Gum and cake from Jennifer Roach, OBC.

Greg Henthorn from OBC, four from the fifties.

My first '51 Berk Ross cards, eBay. Willie Jones, Andy Seminick and Eddie Waitkus.

 

Street trade - 1984 Topps Traded

This was a fun find in one of Al's boxes today - 85 cards from 1984 Topps Traded! It's one of the few early 80s "major" sets I still haven't completed. I needed 37 of them, so a nice mix of cards I needed and cards to trade. I'm down to needing 25 for the set, so I've added the set to the wantlist on the blog, and will soon add it to my TCDB wants.

Cards I needed part I. Lots of players I don't get to add a new card from these days. 

Cards I needed part II. These were mostly commons but a few bigger names as you can see. 

Cards to trade part 1. Let me know if there's a player here you collect, or a team, or if you just have a wantlist you want me to check out.

Cards to trade part II. Hope to find good homes for these!

 

Wallet card in Nashville: Acme Farm Supply

This building, built in 1890, housed various businesses before Acme Feed and Hatchery moved in in 1943. In 1965 the business changed it's name to Acme Farm Supply. The business closed in 1999, and the building was vacant until 2013, when a bar/music venue was opened on the site, one of many catering to the tourists on Nashville's Broadway. What I really like here are the Purina privilege signs on this side of the building.