Family Discovers Hundreds Of Vintage Baseball Cards Hanging On Wall During Home Renovations
In all, there are about 1,600 cards, Brodt told CNN on Tuesday.
“We’re not really baseball fans, so I didn’t really know what I was watching, but a lot of friends were like, ‘Oh, I know this guy. “”
The cards probably won’t make die-hard collectors swoon, but there are plenty of familiar faces for fans of the era, such as Mike Schmidt, George Brett and legendary manager Whitey Herzog.
Unfortunately, being stuck on a wall for decades probably erased any value the cards might have had. Brodt said his son Luke tried to pull a few out, but the photos just tore from their cardboard backing.
“The only way to really remove it is to cut the drywall and cut it into pieces,” she said.
Brodt purchased the home, which was built in 1969, from the original owner’s estate in December. She strips it “down to the bare bone” to restore it.
After discovering the wall of baseball cards, Brodt said she got in touch with the owner’s son, who still lives in Boise.
Chris Nelson, now 44, remembers decorating this room in the late 80s.
Nelson told CNN his mother was very artistic and let him redecorate his room every few years when he was growing up.
When he was 12 or 13, Nelson said he amassed a large collection of baseball cards.
“In the late ’80s, I was absolutely obsessed with baseball,” he said. “We just decided we were going to line one of the walls with the excess baseball cards.”
The project took Nelson and his parents a weekend to complete.
“We had a pretty strong adhesive and each of us had a stack of cards and a paint brush, and we would just paint the glue on the back and stick them to the wall,” he said. “It was a nice little family activity.”
His friends thought the wall was “super cool” when they came to play, Nelson recalled.
As Nelson grew older, it was time to redecorate again – but painting over the cards was not an option, and, as Brodt later discovered, they were too stuck together to remove.
“We ended up with a few bundles of roof shingles, and we just nailed them to the wall and painted them,” Nelson said.
For now, the fate of the wall is undecided.
“I would like someone to come and pick it up if they think it’s useful,” Brodt said. “We have no interest in keeping it because it doesn’t really go with mid-century modern decor and we’re not really baseball fans.”
It doesn’t matter to Nelson that the wall is ultimately preserved, but, he said, the find brought back fond memories for his parents, who both died last year.
“It’s a fond memory of a family activity we did for a few days where we all got along and had fun together,” he said.