The Babe in Parentheses
 

So I am up early, bored, and certainly don't feel like doing the dishes so I start thumbing through Ruth Autographs on ebay... What's striking to me is the ratio of "Babe" to Babe autographs... I want to say that I could only find 6 exemplars among about 300 (legitimate) results... I took it a step further and went through archives on HA.com and found the ratio to be slighlty higher, but ultimately balance out in the 1:40ish ratio...

My understanding of "Babe" signatures was that the parentheses typified his early to mid 20's signature... Is this true? If so, was there a specific year or secondary signature characteristic that can date an auto? (I did come across 1 exemplar that was dated 1931)

Also happened to notice that the majority of the "Babe" exemplars I located were on balls (only a couple on paper)

Curious as to what you guys think on ironclad dates (if there are any ), and whether or not the signature carries a premium!

Thanks & Happy Monday!
Dave

I believe the quotes were used up until 1928 or so...but i am by no means an expert like others on this forum.

If I remember correctly, what I've heard is in 1927 he discontinued "Babe" and went to Babe.

And I think you mean "quotes" and not (parentheses). ;)

after 1927 he generally stopped signing babe with quotation marks, but not entirely, there are a few examples of him using "babe" later than that, so it is not a hard and fast rule, but a general rule of thumb.

Any idea when he started using "babe"? What would the experts here say about the one below(ogppd/bad and year)?

It's good, and it's quite early. Could be as early as late teens, up to 1921 or so.

Thank you David. I knew you would give a straightforward opinion either way. I appreciate it.

I saw this thread and was curious if there were other instances when Ruth signed autographs without quotation marks after 1927 or so. I browsed a thread on the CU boards where the member Chelseafc11 recently made a trip to the Hall of Fame and posted a picture of a letter Ruth wrote to a sick child in 1932 and he signed it "Babe" Ruth. This picture got me to wonder why he would continue to sign both ways this late into his career. I guess it is just one of those things that make you go...hmmmmmmm!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps3e426a9b.jpg