Why Autographs?

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by egbeachley

What I find interesting is that the main reason people collect autographs is the personal effect at having something handled by the player. Yet nobody wants an item that is severely faded or overwritten.

This does seem a bit of a contradiction, but the main reason does not totally override the aesthetics of an item.

[RichardSimon]

My son took a huge interest in baseball from a very early age. I thought baseball cards would be a neat way for us to enjoy a hobby together and to expand his knowledge of baseball.
I subscribed to Baseball Hobby News and they had a list in every issue of addresses of old time baseball players. Seemed that writing to them and asking for their autograph would be a fun thing to do also.
We got to the point where we were keeping charts to see who was the fastest and who was the slowest signer. Most everyone we wrote to would sign for us, even Joe D. and Ted Williams.
Well, one thing led to another, we gave up the cards (though I had spent a hundred bucks for a Nr Mint 1975 Topps set ) and started to concentrate on autographs.
Now my son has made his love of baseball (and all major sports) into a career and he collects autographs of sports writers and broadcasters as well as Mets stuff. He was thrilled when he bought a Mets jersey of Doug Simons on ebay.
I think if you can collect anything with your children it makes the whole venture that much more fun. We loved running to the mailbox to see who would write back to us. There is just something about an autograph that a baseball card cannot match.

[Scott Garner]

Great thread!!

As a younger fan/collector I would always collect the autographs of baseball players and golfers that I especially liked. With key focus players (Nolan Ryan being one) I was an admitted "stalker", getting his autograph over 100 times in person during the 1970's. That being said, I don't recall ever selling the autograph of anyone that I ever asked for a sig.

For over 11 years I worked in the restaurant business in Southern California, spending the majority of time over the last 8 years in high end food service and as a wine captain. As such, I had a tremendous opportunity to meet and take care of quite a few celebrities including major sports stars, politicians, high-ranking military, actors, comedians, etc. At times, under these circumstances, I would ask for an autograph, as long as it didn't seem too awkward.

I've certainly always enjoyed the opportunity to meet some of these people, as I've always been curious about what people are like in person. I've always viewed the autograph as a momento of this whole process. Not mission critical at this point in my life.

Some of you know that I collect the autographs of all pitchers that have thrown no-hitters and perfect games dating back to 1893 (first year that the mound distance became the 60' 6" standard). Obviously, many of these players were so early that I never had a chance to meet the great majority of them.

The amount of time which this project spans has provided a tremendous challenge as many of these 280+ players died long before autograph collecting became popular. Being a completionist collector is an obsession, for sure. This is one project that I most likely will never finish, but it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun trying!

Vincent Hecksel (HexsHeroes) eloquently mentioned in an earlier post on this thread, the autograph provides a link to baseball history and a sense of personal contact knowing that the player once touched the piece of paper.
I very much agree with this statement. Well said, Vincent!

[JimH5]

Autographs are simple, they're small, they can last a couple hundred years, each one is unique, they can be beautiful, and every one represents a single moment in the signer's life. It truly is captured history, and each one is personal, by it being an autograph.

My mom was pregnant with my youngest sister in the spring of 1971, and her OB/GYN appointments were in sync with those of Marty Pattin's wife.

I was 8, and she returned from a doctor appointment with a McCarthy postcard signed to me from Marty Pattin, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

When I went to those early Brewers games, there were 6000-25000 people in the stands and I was sure I was one of the only ones whose mom knew Marty Pattin's wife!

So now I'm 50, and am reminiscing about something that happened when I was 8. It was a powerful enough event for me, and I think part of it for me is to recapture some of that, or when I buy vintage pieces, to recognize how much of a big deal it probably was to the collector in his day.

Amateur psychology aside, a beautiful signature, matted with a fine photograph of the signer looks tremendous on the wall.

[travrosty]

i like to collect boxing autographs because it's just fun. its fun to see all the different circumstances in which someone signed. a letter, a postcard, something signed on the day of a big fight. lots of different circumstances compared to a card, which is the same.

[MooseDog]

I think like most, I started collecting cards.

My mom took me to Disneyland, I think when I was about 10 or 11 and we stayed at the Grand Hotel in Anaheim. One day returning from the park I noticed there was a small group of people, mostly teens, and two old men standing around the entrance. A guy in a suit came out and they all went over to get his autograph.

Curious, when I saw them later I asked one of the teens what they were doing. This might have been one of the most fortuitous moments of my life as that young man was Richard Masson, who would later become one of my first autograph "friends" and mentors. He gave me some 3x5s and a pen and I hung out with them and got a few of the Detroit Tigers, most of whom I had to ask. I do recall recognizing Norm Cash and Mickey Lolich. But nowhere in sight was my favorite non-A's player, Al Kaline.

One of the old guys was Max Schrager, who was one of the few autograph "dealers" around at the time. I got to know Max a little too, but just as a buyer.

To a baseball crazy kid, this was like heaven. You could actually meet the players up close. Some would even talk baseball.

When we got back home, I tried to figure out where the visiting players stayed in Oakland. This turned out to be relatively easy, as there was an Edgewater Inn van parked in the players parking lot.

So from there I advanced to TTM autographs once I found out about the Jack Smalling address book. It was great to get autographs, pictures and letters from those old-time players.

So, instead of cars and girls I ended up spending the bulk of my teen years hanging out at the Edgewater and the Coliseum.

I think for me the personal connection was part of the appeal, but what really got me was the handwriting styles, especially once I got Charlie Gehringer's autograph. I mean a work of art!

I still like looking at old handwriting, even faded and tattered

[MooseDog]

Deleted. Duplicate Post.

[mschwade]

Originally Posted by JimH5

Amateur psychology aside, a beautiful signature, matted with a fine photograph of the signer looks tremendous on the wall.

+1000 The exact reason why 3x5's are still my preference.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Originally Posted by mighty bombjack

This does seem a bit of a contradiction, but the main reason does not totally override the aesthetics of an item.

+1 well said, these two are not in good shape, one damaged one significantly faded, but I don't care. It's a Foxx and Gehrig auto on a card! They actually held these items, that's so awesome.