Who Are The Pioneers Of The Baseball Autograph Hobby?

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

One gentleman that hasn't been mentioned is Harold Esch. Mr. Esch started collecting in the late 1920's and continued into the next millennium! That's undoubtedly a record that will stand for years to come. A Florida resident, Mr. Esch spent many seasons obtaining signed 3X5s in-person during spring training. He would date each 3X5 at the time it was signed, offering a very unique collection once it was dispersed 10-12 years ago. He also obtained signatures by other means, but those in-person examples have certainly aided further understanding in the chronological evolution of many players' autographs. I've been fortunate to own many pieces of his collection, and lots more can be found in the marketplace today.

[Big Six]

Originally Posted by BillyCox3

One gentleman that hasn't been mentioned is Harold Esch. Mr. Esch started collecting in the late 1920's and continued into the next millennium! That's undoubtedly a record that will stand for years to come. A Florida resident, Mr. Esch spent many seasons obtaining signed 3X5s in-person during spring training. He would date each 3X5 at the time it was signed, offering a very unique collection once it was dispersed 10-12 years ago. He also obtained signatures by other means, but those in-person examples have certainly aided further understanding in the chronological evolution of many players' autographs. I've been fortunate to own many pieces of his collection, and lots more can be found in the marketplace today.

Can you share an example?


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[slidekellyslide]

This has been a great thread. Thanks to all who have responded so far.

Ten cents for a King Kelly. Wow.

[seattlerainiers]

Aside from the already-mentioned great collector/great fella Ralph Winnie, here are a few more significant early Northwest-based autograph collectors.

Gary Boyker
Mike Malast
Jim Greubel
Dave Voorhees
Gary Dalbey

Boyker started collecting in the 1940s, and the others from the 1950s-1970s. All built impressive and interesting collections.

Also worth mentioning is former PCL player Stan Gray, who played minor league ball from 1941-1951 in the West and NW, and started collecting in the late 1920s from his home town of Pasadena, CA.
A baseball lifer, Stan assembled an astounding collection of period-signed Burke photos in the 1930s, and thousands of other autographs in other formats. Of course, a number of these stellar items now reside in the collections of Net54 members.