Abe Stark ("Hit Sign, Win Suit") letters

[Gary Dunaier]

Was going through some old family papers recently and came across a couple of 1964 letters signed by Abe Stark (of Ebbets Field "Hit Sign, Win Suit" scoreboard ad fame) in his capacity as Brooklyn Borough President. Here are scans - digitally edited to remove the name and address of the recipient, at that individual's request (that's why the letters, as presented here, read "Dear Mr." and "Dear Mr. and Mrs.")...





The 9/16/64 letter appears to be a form letter in which only the date and the recipient's name and address were typed onto it. The main portion of the text appears to have been mimeographed onto the letterhead. (The 10/1/64 letter is entirely typewritten.)

First question - are the signatures real? I don't know if a borough president would have had a need to have a secretary sign his correspondence, but you never know...

Second question, and the most obvious one - are these worth anything? Unfortunately, the letters don't have any baseball content, but they might make nice collateral items for a specialized Brooklyn Dodger collection. (Because of the family connection, I'm not looking to sell these, but as a collector I can't help but be curious.)

Thanks for your help!

[Kawika]

Harry M. Stevens photo of Ebbets Field scoreboard ca. 1939