Willie Mays TTM Question

[JollyElm]

I have a few Willie Mays cards that I got signed through the mail around 30 years ago (late 70's/early 80's) and I've read time and time again that Willie's wife signed all(?) autographs that arrived TTM in those days. So I decided to search around the web to see if I could find out why this fact is so readily accepted in the hobby.

Well, it seems the statement that Mrs. Mays signed everything is parroted over and over again by countless people (and in a bunch of old Net54 threads, too) without anyone ever giving any kind of concrete evidence or pointing to anything that corroborates this apparent 'fact.' It's really begun to frustrate me, so I ask the experts around here. Can anyone point out any actual evidence that proves this is, indeed, the case? I'm not talking about supposition, because all I see on the web is supposition. I would like something to help clarify this whole situation for me and any push in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

I do know the TTM sig's are different from what you see all over the place these days, but I also see a lot of similarities in the two sets of signatures (old TTM's & more recent authenticated autographs) that could certainly point to the same person signing both. The big difference being the more recent ones are in no way nearly as ornate/flamboyant as the TTM's. But there could be many reasons for that. Just look at how much Mickey Mantle's signature changed from his early years in pro ball.

Can anyone help me determine why Mays TTM's are so blatantly discounted and direct me to where I can find actual facts about this topic?? I would appreciate it.

Thanks.