July Autograph Pickups
 

It looks like a slower month for the most of us, but was lucky enough to add these two and get them framed up nicely.....

Harriet Beecher Stowe handwritten letter

Frederick Douglass Signed Document

Al Simmons
 

I posted this on the wrong thread earlier. I've been looking for an Al Simmons 8x10 for some time and finally found one.

'25 Exhibits Bill Terry
 

I couldn't believe I found this "hangin' out" on the net. And the bonus are the other 1931-32 NY Giants' autographs on back- it's like the sweet spot for cards!

It's nice to see all those 1930's Giants autographs. I was friends with a few of the Giants from that era and also had some interesting missed opportunities with a few who signed that card.

Hal Schumacher lived close to Cooperstown in a tiny place called Dolgeville. in a nice old house right on the main street. I was passing through in the summer of 1993 and called him up. There was no answer. Driving through the village, I stopped and knocked on the open screen door. Still no answer. Unfortunately, he had passed in April and I was unaware.

Francis Healy (who, as can be seen in the above, sometimes spelled his surname with an "e") was an odd case. I believe he was scouted by none other than Mickey Welch. McGraw had high hopes for him which never panned out. He was unmarried and lived with his spinster sister in Holyoke & Springfield, MA. They never had a telephone. As with Schumacher, I tried my luck at simply knocking on the door. The sister answered the door and tried to tell me there were no Healys living there, citing the name of the owner of the duplex. Funny, because her name and Francis' name were written on a piece of paper affixed to the mailbox she was standing beside while denying her identity! Then, her nephew came from out of nowhere and immediately understood what I was requesting. He told her, "He wants to speak to Uncle Francis". "We don't accept visitors" was her reply, and that was the end of that! It was well worth a try. His was a very interesting story which I learned later on. Unfortunately, I don't feel it would be right to expand upon it publicly or privately.

Eddie "Doc" Marshall and I had an ongoing correspondence for some time. He was a very nice man whose career was ended by a near-fatal beanball from Van Lingle Mungo. I had sent him am oversized enlargement of a color team photo from the 1934 Milwaukee Brewers (it appeared to be a newspaper supplement). I had managed to befriend every living MLB alumnus on the photo, of which there were still seven as of the late 1990's. Marshall was one of the last I had sent the photo to so that he could sign it. He never returned it, which was odd, as he was accommodating in every way and seemed to be in decent health for a man of his age. A few months later I found myself in California, which is thousands of miles away from my home. I looked Marshall up in the White Pages and was surprised that there was no longer a listing. Again, I chanced to knock on the door of the last address I wrote to. A petite, somewhat frail lady answered. It was Mrs. Marshall. She explained that Eddie had passed away just a few weeks prior. I told her who I was, and right away her face beamed. She said, "Stay there just a minute!" and walked to a nearby desk with a large drawer. Inside was the envelope I had sent Eddie with the photo, which he had in fact signed before he passed. She knew me by name, which was quite flattering! She was also proud to say that they had gone to a Kinko's to have more copies of my photo made up for the family. If I had known, I would have made even more extras for them. (None of the living players or their families had ever seen the photo until I sent it. Each one had more copies made on their own! They, like me, were so taken by the fact it was a true color photo as opposed to simply colorized.) Mrs. Marhsall was also kind to furnish me with a copy of a newspaper article from when Eddie was beaned. They had this printed for me at the same time and Eddie had meant to send it all back. Mrs. Marshall turned out to be a very talented artist and showed me some of her landscapes. Aside from if Eddie had still been alive, I couldn't have asked for a nicer outcome!

Incredible post! Thanks for sharing this. :cool:

Wow!

Great anecdotes! So cool to have had personal interactions with some of these players!

In looking into all of the autographs, I was able to decipher all but one- the "Joe XXXXXX" (one of the four landscape autographs). Looking through rosters that included coaching staff, there are several possibilities for "Joe", but also must consider that the subject may not be included in my options. Joe Heving (1930-31 NYG) seems to be the closest (I think the "Joe" is a match), but cannot decipher the last name. I had thought it was a nickname like "Wahoo" or something along those lines or could be his middle name- William. Another "Joe" possibility is Joe Genewich (1928-30 NYG), but this doesn't seem like a realistic match.

Any additional insights in to the mystery Joe is much appreciated!

It looks like it says Joe Mahan.

Could be Joe Malay. He played on the 33 and 35 team.

One more before the month ends
 

Sure have seen some neat stuff on this thread.

Just added this letter from Effa Manley. I wish like heck I knew what she was referring to Walter O'Malley's acts on her behalf.

More on Manley can be found on her page on my website. There's a page for every Hall of Famer - most of them have an autograph - and 300+ non Hall of Famers.

I've been rewriting the pages and improving the site. It'll never really be finished but it sure keeps me engaged.

Took nine months but I finally have #174 in my collection:
https://i.ibb.co/rFK8Wx1/Zack-Wheat.jpg

Pickups
 

Been picking up some non sports lately...
Johnny Cash signed 8x10 with "god bless you" inscription and a puscifer concert poster signed by maynard james keenan

I drove to the National from Virginia. I enjoy flying, but it would have cost quite a bit more to fly and stay in one of the close hotels, plus I wanted to stop at some of the antique malls I see advertised on the billboards on the highway. I stopped at a few places along the way and found a couple of nice items.

Morgan Bulkeley signed Sons of the American Revolution certificate. I do not collect baseball signatures, but I knew he was a desirable hall of famer and worth more than it was priced. It is 11x13 and printed on linen paper that feels like parchment. I was looking at items in cases at an antique mall and his signature jumped out. I used to find his signature for $20-$30 when I was buying and selling Civil War generals autographs. I did not even know he was in the Hall at the time. Rhys gave me a price range on the item at the National. Now I just need to sell it. The recipient of the certificate is the great grandson of the Alexander Hamilton of the $20 bill and the Broadway play. Interestingly, both he and Bulkeley served in the Civil War.

Attachment 471645

Attachment 471646

Burton Holmes - was a writer and lecturer. He travelled the world and gave public lectures on his trips. He also wrote the first travalogues, predecessors of the tourist guides used today. He was one of two noted photographers at the 1896 Olympics in Athens. He published a book which covered the 1896 Olympics and 1906 Intercalated games which are generally credited with saving the Olympic movement. The IOC does not recognize the 1906 event as Olympic games as they did not follow the quadrennial plan, but most Olympic historians do. I already have two signed 8x10's of him, but this was only $10 and included the return envelope.

Attachment 471647

Congrats Mike.

Sometime it is worthwhile to look for autographs in career areas in which overlap might occur. I have found a couple of Mike Donlan autographs among those of early stage & screen performers (instead of “baseball”). I though I found a tough-to-find Hap Ward autograph that way too, but there was a stage actor with same name. Bummer.

Thanks for sharing.