NEW FIND M114 Baseball Magazine SIGNED Photos

[stoogeco]

I just obtained today a great lot of M114's. I'd like to share them with the group and get some thoughts on them. The lot consists of Foxx, Williams, Dimaggio, Greenberg, Ruffing, Rolfe, Dickey, Crosetti, Medwick, Johnson, Mize, Cronin, Keller, Hubbell, Walters, McCormick, Moore, and Paul and Dizzy Dean. It's my understanding that the Dizzy Dean is the more difficult of the Dizzy's that were made. The story of how these were obtained is pretty fascinating. They belonged to the great uncle of the woman from whom I purchased them. her uncle was sick with TB and hospitalized for 2 years. He sent these out, and almost all of them were returned signed. I doubt this would happen today.



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[stoogeco]

[stoogeco]

[stoogeco]

[stoogeco]

[stoogeco]

[stoogeco]

[stoogeco]

I apologize for the excessive photos. I just thought they were worthy of showing. Also, any thoughts on George Burke postcards? Do you guys think these items are worth more signed, because they were signed in 1940, or does that matter much? It's interesting to see how some of the autographs evolved with time. Thanks SO much for viewing my find and offering any helpful tidbits. I have never encountered a lot like this, but I'm sure many of you have. Thanks again!

Dave

[Econteachert205]

Very cool collection

[Jobu]

Awesome group Dave. I don't know much about autographs but I am pretty sure that period signatures usually command a premium, especially if the signature changed a lot over time.

Please never split this lot up, it is too cool to meet that fate. I also suggest having the woman you bought them from write out the full story and sign and date it for you so you can keep it as a nice piece of provenance for the group.

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed looking at these.

[vintagehofrookies]

Great Auto's congrats!

[stoogeco]

Here is the photo of the Burke's.

[doug.goodman]

Fantastic stuff

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Fantastic stuff

Indeed!

[drcy]

I'm no autograph expert, but know that many period players purchased postcards and photos directly from Burke to fulfill fan autograph requests. That's why many Ruth, Williams, Foxx, Gehringer, Dean, Cochrane etc autographs are on Burke photos.

[HotSpringsBaseball]

That's an amazing collection, Dave. I agree with Bryan, that lot should never be split, the fact that it has stayed together so long and has such history, it deserves to remain together. Vintage signatures always command a higher price, certainly so if it is one of the earliest known signatures of said player. However, in this case, I believe to a collector it is worth exponentially more as the entire orginal collection. Great find, enjoy it!

Mac

[bcbgcbrcb]

That's an awesome collection, I was a big collector of the M114's (unsigned) for a good while. One thing I wonder about is how the original owner was able to send these out and have them returned signed while still maintaining their pristine condition? Due to their much larger than normal paper size, you would think that many would have been folded to fit into envelopes for mailing to the players but yet none appear to have any creases, unless I just can't see them in the scans.

[shernan30]

Great looking collection.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stoogeco]

There is slight water damage on a few of them (lower right corners) but you are right there are no creases. Weren't these shipped originally in tubes? He either met the players or shipped them in tubes is my guess. But who knows. It's the joy of the lot in speculating what might have been.

[OTWCards]

Originally Posted by stoogeco

He sent these out, and almost all of them were returned signed. I doubt this would happen today.

Awesome collection and one that should stay intact.

You are correct that it would not happen today, but that is because all of the subjects have passed on...

I don't think most of the big stars today actually read their mail, much less answer it.

[ullmandds]

Fantastic collection!!!! As a kid I sent out to Charlie Gehringer...he's the only one I can remember...had him sign a perez steele card...still have it.

[akleinb611]

This is indeed an impressive collection. You're right; the Dizzy Dean you have is the one showing him with the Cubs, dating from 1938 or 1939, generally missing from most checklists. I am a bit puzzled; the story you were told indicates that most of the signatures were obtained within a span of a couple of years. But Jimmie Foxx died in 1966, and the Hank Greenberg autograph seems to be dated 1970 (unless I'm misreading it). It looks as though the original owner spaced his requests out a bit more than two years.

M114's are usually found trimmed when they show up autographed, for precisely the reasons raised here. If they would have been trimmed down to 8 1/2 x 11, or even 9 x 12, that would have made them much easier to mail flat. A great collection all around.

[akleinb611]

I take it back; the Greenberg is dated 1940, not 1970, which makes perfect sense. All of the M114's would date from the late 1930's, and it wouldn't surprise me if the original owner simply ordered the dozen pictures he would have been entitled to for free with his Baseball Magazine subscription renewal, and immediately sent them out for signing. I imagine he found a supply of large-sized envelopes and took advantage of that.

[stoogeco]

Thanks for all the help. It is a fascinating collection. Does anyone have any information regarding the 2 George Burke's postcards that were a part of the collection? I am having trouble finding anything out regarding these. The Williams looks like a very early (he still looks like a high school kid) piece. Thanks again to all!!

[Rich Klein]

but if my memory is correct; welcome to another Former Baseball Hobby News contributor (Mr. Kleinberger).

And as an FYI, it is the person's right to do whatever he wants with these items. If he wants to split them up, it's not our job to tell him to keep them intact.

Rich

[akleinb611]

Rich! Good to hear from you. It's always great to hear from a fellow graduate of the Barning academy! Have you heard from Nick Edson? I could swear I've seen his name pop up here every now and again.

Actually, I've been a Net54 member for about five years, but mostly as a lurker. It takes just the right mood, or maybe the right alignment of planets, to inspire me to post.

[Rich Klein]

Nick and myself were not in the same collecting orbits but when I post links to my Sports Collectors Daily (a shameless plug for a Net 54 adversiter) articles on Facebook; fellow BHN contributors Richard West and Darrell Berger often post their opinions

RIch

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by stoogeco

Thanks for all the help. It is a fascinating collection. Does anyone have any information regarding the 2 George Burke's postcards that were a part of the collection? I am having trouble finding anything out regarding these. The Williams looks like a very early (he still looks like a high school kid) piece. Thanks again to all!!

Might be able to tell you more if I saw the backs, but they look like Burke's standard 4x6 photo format. Not postcards in the strictest sense, but rather double-weight photos in a slightly larger size. I would expect the back to have the players' names typed along with a file code in the corner that identifies the team and player depicted (not at my home computer right now, or I'd tell you exactly what the code should be). Seeing the stamps on the back might help narrow the time frame when they were produced, but would be in about the same range as the M114's you showed.