Pretty much all of the above is true and agree with all. From a signing perspective even though Gehrig died in 1941 his signing ended about halfway through 1939. Ruth died in 1948 and although much of the material around 1947 till his death was signed by his wife , he did make a grand tour throughout Florida participating in many public events and signing alot of stuff.
I'll relate a couple personal observations , both very sad. I used to visit Bill Terry all of the time and we spoke often. He told me that Gehrig was one of the biggest and strongest players he ever saw over 200 pounds of raw muscle. He told me it was one of the saddest sights he ever saw when he met with Gehrig shortly before his death. He told me that Gehrig was barely 100 pounds.
Another point I remember a LONG time ago an elderly gentleman asked me to appraise a signed 1939 program for him signed by the entire Yankees team. It was a dinner or banquet late in the season. And he got it signed himself. He was not wanting to sell it just wanted my opinion. My first question was "Did Gehrig sign it ?" and he said "yes" but "it dosen't look anything like his signature. So I looked at it and all of the 1939 Yankees were there and I kept flipping it upside down trying to find the Lou Gehrig autograph. He showed me a portion of the program that was a squiggle line that I originally thought was used by one of the signers to see if the pen was working and he said "Thats Gehrig", I asked him if he was ABSOLUTELY certain he witnessed him sign it and he said yes and I believe him. Have attached a picture of me and Bill Terry to prove I don;t just make this stuff up....
