This stuff is scary. Someone finds an age-appropriate envelope with no return address, then creates the contents and response. This is going to fool a few people, just because the envelope looks good and the story is believable. The forger has gone to extra lengths by having "Ruth" sign the kid's actual letter, and add a year date that matches the envelope's postmark.
The kid claims in his letter that he saw Babe Ruth at the theater - if that were true, he would certainly have gotten Ruth's autograph then. I'm hoping that my February, 1943 Ruth that actually was signed at a Bronx theater during a War Bond drive, was not where he got the idea for this story. I haven't looked into it, but it's probable that Ruth wasn't even doing War Bond appearances in 1947 - he was dying from cancer and was in the hospital until February. From Wikipedia: "He was discharged from the hospital in February (1947), having lost 80 pounds (36 kg), and went to Florida to recuperate." The postmark is February, 1947, meaning that Ruth was at the theater prior to that...when he was actually in the hospital. Even more glaring, the word 'AUTOGRAPH' on the kid's letter were typed with the same typewriter that 'Ruth' used to respond to him (match the 'A' and 'T').
Babe Ruth signed letter on ebay
