Hard to find Hall Of famer autographs

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by r2678

Being an Indans fan, I've long had an interest in Addie Joss and have managed to collect a few of his cards. I've often wondered why his autograph is virtually non existant. He was an educated man, went to college, had a job as a sports writer in the off season and lived in Toledo, a decent size city. One would think he had a library and a circle of friends he corresponded with. Yet, no autographs. Has anyone advanced a theory?

People did collect autographs during his era. All one has to do is to search for theatrical autographs to see this was a flourishing hobby. Was baseball that far behind the popularity of the Maude Adams and Anna Helds of the time?

Just wondering.

Wow John, this may be the slowest response to a post on net54 (almost a year), but I just spotted your question when this thread got bumped yesterday.

I suspect several people on this board can weigh in on your question related to Addie Joss's scarcity. FYI, I have pondered the same question.
To the best of my knowledge. there are only two examples of Addie's signature in the hobby that are deemed authentic.

After discussing this topic with many people in the hobby, there are many reasons that his signature is so scarce.
Here are a few to note:

Early death date- 1911
Age-31
Short career as a ML ball player- 9 years
Autograph collecting had not yet become common in the hobby
The Addie Joss family house on Fulton Street, Toledo completely burned to the ground and all family documents, photos, etc. were lost.


I hope this helps...