I realized recently that in six and a half years of doing this blog, I have never shown my own collection of Carbo memorabilia. I guess this is because, as my friend Diane Lau once said, even though many people collect, it seems neurotic and I have visions of Guy visiting my house and fleeing in horror. I have collected Carbo memorabilia for ten years now and have amassed a pretty extensive collection. It's gotten to the point that there isn't much that I haven't seen or don't already own, and though the really unique pieces on sports memorabilia auction sites are often too rich for my blood, I have been lucky enough to acquire some rare items.
My Carbo collection is housed in my computer room. I occupy the upstairs of my mother's house and have a bedroom and computer room. My room has slanted ceilings, so wall space is limited. I actually have Guy posters that are put away as I just don't have the wall space at the moment to hang them up. I also have two cats, so you will be seeing litterboxes in these pictures. (The litterboxes are clean, though!)
So without further ado, here is The Only Carbonneau Museum in the Ottawa Valley.
The door to my computer room is covered by this HUGE Carbo growth chart poster. It was a mail-in promotion from Kraft Foods back in 1989. I happen to love this poster because it includes two things I love, Carbo and teddy bears!
Moving to the right of the door, here is the pride of my life: my 1995-96 game-worn Dallas jersey. You can see that to the right of the jersey, there are two photos hanging on the wall. These are the photomatches for the jersey. (That is, photos of Guy actually wearing the jersey.)
The photomatches. The jersey was actually pretty easy to match up to photos; there is a black thread in the T in "Stars" that you can see in these photos.
And these are the photos hanging to the left of the jersey. The one on the bottom, a signed action shot of Guy from the 1999-2000 season (his last in the NHL) is actually the first piece of autographed Carbo memorabilia I ever got.
On the shelf above the jersey are photos from both times I met Guy, along with a few random pieces of memorabilia.
A closer look at the memorabilia items. The little Carbo figurine was a promotion from Provigo (a supermarket chain in Quebec) during the 1988-89 season. Both the Coke and the Dallas Stars slice of the ice (actual ice water from Guy's 3rd Cup) were gifts from readers of this blog. And the signed business card is from Guy's stint as Habs head coach.
Moving around the room, here is my trifecta of Carbo sticks hanging on the wall. (A tip: if you're looking to hang hockey sticks, L-shaped cornice hooks from the hardware store are the best. They're inexpensive and easy, you just screw them into the wall and you're all set.)
And this is the photomatch to the Sher-Wood stick (the third one on the wall). The stick is from Guy's second-to-last game before he retired.
This is a signed candid photo of Guy from the 1993 Habs Cup parade. You can barely see the signature; Guy's pen died.
This is a rare signed photo of Guy. It is from when he played for what was the Habs' AHL affiliate at the time, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs. (Guy played for them from 1980 to 1982.) My Steiff turtle also wants to say hello.
Moving around the room again, here is the photo that Carbo signed for me and my fiance Erik for our anniversary in 2009. Erik wrote to Guy requesting an autograph. The photo directly below it is of another retired NHLer, goaltender Pascal Leclaire.
This is my Kraft Drawings print of Guy. This was another promotion from Kraft Foods, this time in 1987. Kraft issued a series of hockey cards with drawings of players and you could send in proofs of purchase and receive large posters of the artwork. This was a hard one for me to acquire on eBay and I haven't seen another one up for auction since.
A graphic artist friend made this image for me back in 2008. It is a composite of several of my favorite photos of Guy. The quote is from Roch Carrier's "The Hockey Sweater."
And last but certainly not least are my Carbo rookie skates. These are photomatched as well, to Guy's 1982-83 Steinberg rookie card. Also Mickey Mouse ears. The placement of things in my room tends to be random.
So that's the tour! Hope you enjoyed it!
