Collecting signed government postcards (GPCs) - Questions for collectors

[americana_collector]

Thank you for sharing the highlights of your collection! This is also very helpful information. I've searched auction records to get a sense of which HOF players signatures are the most difficult to find in GPC form.

I'm also working on a project where I'm trying to obtain a GPC, or vintage dated item, from each of the first African American players to integrate MLB teams. The project starts with Jackie Robinson and ends with Pumpsie Green. Still have a long way to go because I only have Larry Doby, Sam Jethroe, Nino Escalera, Elston Howard, and Tom Alston. I feel like Curt Roberts and John Kennedy may be close to impossible on a GPC.

Originally Posted by Kco

Welcome to the GPC collecting club, it's quite a fun one and I enjoy collecting them myself. The postmarks, and uniformity are part of the draw, and the reality that a lot of them tend to be playing days autographs.

I have about 30, but I am less a completist and more of an elite/best players collector in this medium. I chase the toughest names, and at some point will likely try to complete the lower echelon of players.

I happened to purchase a few of the Sklar "Long Beach" GPCs last year, and have found and picked off a few super tough names over the last few years.

I think my favorites are My Clemente (Incredibly tough), Grover C Alexander & Cy Young from the Long Beach collection, my Walter Johnson (Incredibly tough) , My Gehrig, Jackie, Ruth, '51 Mantle, '61 Mays and so forth.

There are a few big name HOFers that are available in droves on everything, but very difficult on GPCs. Ted Williams is a great example, as is Hank Aaron.