Not prewar, but I recently was able to cross another want off of my bucket list.
Many of you know that I've been an advanced collector of Nolan Ryan for a very long time (42 years in 2014- yikes!).
One item has been on my want list
forever:
A signed Nolan Ryan personal check
Many years ago, I ran into a guy in So Cal that actually sold Nolan Ryan a set of furniture while he was playing for the Angels. He knew who Nolan Ryan was since he was an Angels fan, and was smart enough at the time to make a Xerox copy of the personal check. That's the closest that I've ever come to seeing one until now...
After all this time, one finally entered the hobby. This check has special appeal to me for two additional reasons:
It's twice signed, which is always a bonus.
Additionally, it was drafted on his Express Bank Account in 1996. At the time, Nolan owned two Express Banks and was also the bank President, but has since sold them.
Anyway, here it is and it's very scarce indeed.