What Am I?

[sb1]

It's time to play the game of what am I again for a particular issue that I have had since roughly 2006, an unknown issuer group of Pittsburgh Pirates images that were cut from a larger piece. All on stock roughly the same as postcard stock.

To date no one has ever seen another or any idea what they come from. I now have a new piece to the puzzle, which does seem to date them as contemporary to the circa 1910 era. After 15 years I have obtained another, Fred Clarke which has been cut off another of the larger unknown items, and had the bottom caption area cut off. It came in a small group or RPPC's and a few lithograph items from Armstrong county, PA all of which dated in the 1900's-1910's.

The piece has several unusual attributes....It has a 2 cent which may have been from 1917-1919 when the postcard rate was raised during WWI. It has the period correct flag cancel on the stamp, however the stamp is not tied to the piece by the postmark which is odd, as the rest of the cancel should show. It also has Fred Clark written on it in fountain pen, in the same ink as the addressee is written, right down to the steel tip marks made by the pen. It appears to have been addressed after the piece was creased and the paper stock broken, as the inks has bled where the pen tip crossed the broken stock. Oddly the Fred Clark looks 95% like the way Fred Clarke signed his name, but has a few subtle differences. The addressee is the wife of a very well known Armstrong county businessman William P. Lauster.

The piece while answering very few questions about the origin or issuer of the Pirates pieces, raises a laundry list of questions on it's own.

Was it really mailed? If not why paste a used 2 cent stamp on it? Why write Fred Clark(e)'s name on it? Did Fred Clark(e) actually write his name on it? perhaps his early signatures were slightly different? How many people could have had any idea what Fred Clarke's signature even looked like in that era? IF it's a forgery of sorts, why? I paid not all that much for the entire group,, none of which was placed on the signature being real, from a picker found at an estate sale?

Anyone have any ideas or thoughts to the origin of the Pirates issue or the later homemade "postcard"?

I added an image of both Clarke's for comparison.

Scott