Chuck Catalfamo’s office is wall-to-wall baseball.

During the winter months in upstate New York, the Hudson Falls building contractor often finds himself killing time there. One day during the winter of 1992, Catalfamo dug out the old Exhibit baseball cards that were so much a part of his childhood.

The Exhibit cards are larger than conventional cards; three inches wide, five inches tall, all black and white.

Catalfamo shuffled through the images of Dave "Boo" Ferris, Brooks Robinson, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and a host of others, then glancing around an office with a serious baseball theme, had an idea.

He duplicated the cards on the nearby office copying machine, then pasted them along the top of his office wall, one after another.

He had a couple dozen strung along before his wife Anne walked in on him. "I came up and said, ‘Hey, that would make some neat wall covering," Anne said.
The A.J. Exhibit Corporation was born.

"When Anne got excited," Chuck said. "I knew we were on to something."

The Catalfamos have been married 27 years. Chuck, 48, made his living as a building contractor after giving up on a minor league pitching career with the New York Mets in the mid-1960s. Of Course after he saw his first roommate throw – Nolan Ryan – how could you blame him for being discouraged. Anne, 47, stayed at home with their two daughters, helping out with the office work. Their business ventures were traditional forays into real estate and apartment complexes. After their two daughters were grown, the couple looked for something different, something that might be fun for both of them.

They found it in Chuck’s old baseball cards as they began a two-year journey to market their unique brand of wall border with the likenesses of major league baseball players.

No one had ever attempted anything like this, at least that they knew.

The result is series of six different wall coverings with each series depicting six major league baseball players from the old Exhibit baseball cards.

The wall border come in rolls of 15 feet with each of the likenesses of the six players about the same size as in the old Exhibit baseball cards.

The wall covering has a classical look – so it isn’t just for a child’s room – and comes in four shades; black and white, burgundy, infield green and ballpark blue.

The Catalfamos think it would be perfect for dens, offices, even businesses. Chuck’s own office is a testament to that.

The wall covering went on the market for the first time in August, 1993 with some small advertisements in baseball collecting magazines, The results were encouraging with over 300 rolls sold over the first two months at $18 to $21 per roll.

Business should get even better, especially when the wall covering goes in the J.C.Penney catalog in June, 1994.

"This item really drew my attention," said Margaret Worthington, a buyer’s assistant for J.C. Penney. It was very unique. We look for those type of items that are very different and when I showed it to several guys in the department, they went crazy for it."

It was the culmination of 18 months of hard work and study.

The Catalfamos’ original research revealed that the Exhibit baseball card company had been out of business since the 1960’s so acquiring rights to cards was not hard. They also had to get permission from each former major leaguer to use his likeness.

"That was the fun part," Anne admitted. "Yogi’s (Berra) wife called and said she wanted more samples. Then Yogi called and said he lost his contract, the Phil Rizzuto called and said he lost his contract and his check."

When it was all done, there were 24 different players under contract, from Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to Johnny Mize and Ralph Kiner.

The new business was a rebirth for Anne. She jumped into the venture like a raw rookie on opening day. This was like nothing she had ever done before. "This is the only thing I had spent his much time on," Anne said.

"She’s kind of going through her second childhood," Chuck said. "Now she’s the one that wants to do this all."
But in the middle of all research, Anne go sick and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Twice she went through operations – the first in March 1991 in New York City and the second in June, 1992 in Chicago.

"It was really a very large tumor and it’s really a miracle because so many times they can’t even operate," Anne said. But now she has a clean bill of health and is looking forward to getting the wall covering off the ground.

"When I look back, I don’t think we have done that bad," Anne said. "I’ve always been very comfortable with it. I think it will really sell. I still do. I’d like to see us selling it world-wide."

They both think they can hit a home run.


Ken Tingley is Sports Editor of The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y.

(For more information on the A.J. Exhibit Corporation wall covering call 1-800-727-8894).