February Pickups..

[Michael B]

I enjoy seeing the vintage signatures that everyone picks up. I don't collect baseball, but love looking at the old signatures. They also stick in my memory when I am out scrounging for items at paper shows, stamp shows and the such.

I finally have an item worthy of posting. I won this item last week after I stumbled across it. It is part of a large collection of 1930's signatures that Lelands has been listing on ebay. Most of them have spartan descriptions, just the title with nothing in the listing. This is a letter written by George Spitz who competed in the 1932 Olympics in the high jump where he finished 9th. He was also NCAA champ in 1934. He writes that since he received the request while in Boston to compete in the Olympic Trials (at Harvard Stadium) he had the other members of the NY Athletic Club attending the trials also sign the card. On the right hand side Olympians Percy Beard (silver medal 1932 110m hurdles) and Gene Venzke (1936 Olympics 1500m 9th) have signed the card. The rest are not Olympians. The left hand side has George Spitz at the bottom. The gem on this card is the top signature. It is Pat McDonald. He won gold and silver medals in the shotput at the 1912 Olympics. He won a gold medal in the 56lb weight throw at the 1920 Olympics at the age of 42. He is the oldest track and field champ in the Olympics. One year after signing this card he won his last AAU championship, in the 56lb weight throw, at the age of 55. He was a lifelong NY City police officer (An Irishman who was a cop in NYC, you must be kidding!!!) and he died in 1954.

This is the first time I have run across his signature. A few of my European collector friends have one, but it is very uncommon. Think of a winning pitcher or starter for the 1912 Red Sox who died 60 years ago. The best part is the letter is perfect provenance. Also included was the envelope for the small card and the envelope mailed back to the collector who lived about 3 miles from where I grew up and 3 - 4 miles from Harvard Stadium.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Michael B

I enjoy seeing the vintage signatures that everyone picks up. I don't collect baseball, but love looking at the old signatures. They also stick in my memory when I am out scounging for items at paper shows, stamp shows and the such.

I finally have an item worthy of posting. I won this item last week after I stumbled across it. It is part of a large collection of 1930's signatures that Lelands has been listing on ebay. Most of them have spartan descriptions as the title with nothing in the listing. This is a letter written by George Spitz who competed in the 1932 Olympics in the high jump where he finished 9th. He was also NCAA champ in 1934. He writes that since he received the request while in Boston to compete in the Olympic Trials (at Harvard Stadium) he had the other members of the NY Athletic Club attending the trials also sign the card. On the right hand side Olympians Percy Beard (silver medal 1932 110m hurdles) and Gene Venzke (1936 Olympics 1500m 9th) have signed the card. The rest are not Olympians. The left hand side has George Spitz at the bottom. The gem on this card is the top signature. It is Pat McDonald. He won gold and silver medals in the shotput at the 1912 Olympics. He won a gold medal in the 56lb weight throw at the 1920 Olympics at the age of 42. He is the oldest track and field champ in the Olympics. One year after signing this card he won his last AAU championship, in the 56lb weight throw, at the age of 55. He was a lifelong NY City police officer (An Irishman who was a cop in NYC, you must be kidding!!!) and he died in 1954.

This is the first time I have run across his signature. A few of my European collector friends have one, but it is very uncommon. Think of a winning pitcher or starter for the 1912 Red Sox who died 60 years ago. The best part is the letter is perfect provenance. Also included was the envelope for the small card and the envelope mailed back to the collector who lived about 3 miles from where I grew up and 3 - 4 miles from Harvard Stadium.

Michael,
Great post! Congrats on your pickup-that's a great one.

It should also be noted that having the obvious historical knowledge base that you have of the Olympics is huge when it comes to finding a diamond in the rough like you just shared with us. Nice job!

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Michael,
Great post! Congrats on your pickup-that's a great one.

It should also be noted that having the obvious historical knowledge base that you have of the Olympics is huge when it comes to finding a diamond in the rough like you just shared with us. Nice job!

Scott,

Thank you for the kind words. I have varied interests and I find that paying attention to as much as I can helps me find those diamonds. I am sure the full time dealers like Richard and Jim can attest to that extra knowledge paying big dividends. Ebay has created such a market that I am finding items that are reasonably identified but are real prizes. Two of my favorites are:
1932 Steamship menu for a ship going from Hawaii to Los Angelas for the 1932 Olympics signed by Duke Kahanamoku.

WWI Visitors book from Camp Grant in Chicago. The seller was good enough to post many pages, but said he could not identify most of the signatures. He did not recognize President William Howard Taft which is what I bought it for. Sold that for more than the book. When I got the book I went through every signature and found the equivalent of 2 Hope Diamonds in a Cracker Jack box. The first was Very rare Hockey Hall of Famer Major Frederick McLaughlin signed with his rank and regiment. The regiment was called the 'Black Hawk' regiment and he was the founder of the Chicago Black Hawks. The second was Edwin Hubble after whom the telescope was named. He signed the book with his rank and regiment and slightly different spelling of his name - Hubbel. See the images below.

I hope I can share some of the interesting signatures of Olympians that I own or have owned. Some have great stories and some show that you can never really know enough about the signatures you collect.

Brent, I also want thank you, but I do not know how to put two quotes in a post.

[tazdmb]

Picked up HOF #159 on a good deal thanks to Chylak not being listed in the Auction title (I don't think the seller knew that he was the most valuable signature on the page).




Also features rare autograph of NFL player Jim Braxton.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Originally Posted by Michael B

I enjoy seeing the vintage signatures that everyone picks up. I don't collect baseball, but love looking at the old signatures. They also stick in my memory when I am out scounging for items at paper shows, stamp shows and the such.

I finally have an item worthy of posting. I won this item last week after I stumbled across it. It is part of a large collection of 1930's signatures that Lelands has been listing on ebay. Most of them have spartan descriptions as the title with nothing in the listing. This is a letter written by George Spitz who competed in the 1932 Olympics in the high jump where he finished 9th. He was also NCAA champ in 1934. He writes that since he received the request while in Boston to compete in the Olympic Trials (at Harvard Stadium) he had the other members of the NY Athletic Club attending the trials also sign the card. On the right hand side Olympians Percy Beard (silver medal 1932 110m hurdles) and Gene Venzke (1936 Olympics 1500m 9th) have signed the card. The rest are not Olympians. The left hand side has George Spitz at the bottom. The gem on this card is the top signature. It is Pat McDonald. He won gold and silver medals in the shotput at the 1912 Olympics. He won a gold medal in the 56lb weight throw at the 1920 Olympics at the age of 42. He is the oldest track and field champ in the Olympics. One year after signing this card he won his last AAU championship, in the 56lb weight throw, at the age of 55. He was a lifelong NY City police officer (An Irishman who was a cop in NYC, you must be kidding!!!) and he died in 1954.

This is the first time I have run across his signature. A few of my European collector friends have one, but it is very uncommon. Think of a winning pitcher or starter for the 1912 Red Sox who died 60 years ago. The best part is the letter is perfect provenance. Also included was the envelope for the small card and the envelope mailed back to the collector who lived about 3 miles from where I grew up and 3 - 4 miles from Harvard Stadium.

That is so cool! Congrats!!!

[scmavl]

This will definitely be the least popular item on this thread, but here it is anyway. I bought this Chipper auto'd card raw on ebay awhile back (it's factory signed) and sent it to our "friends" at PSA. I'm very happy with the grade (card grade, not auto grade). Not sure how many of these there are but only one other is graded and I've seen no more online anywhere. A nice addition to my Chipper collection.

[isaac2004]

Originally Posted by scmavl

This will definitely be the least popular item on this thread, but here it is anyway. I bought this Chipper auto'd card raw on ebay awhile back (it's factory signed) and sent it to our "friends" at PSA. I'm very happy with the grade (card grade, not auto grade). Not sure how many of these there are but only one other is graded and I've seen no more online anywhere. A nice addition to my Chipper collection.

Who doesn't like Larry Wayne?

[tjlives]

Originally Posted by isaac2004

Who doesn't like Larry Wayne?

Mets fans.

[RichardSimon]

Yeah, but even Mets fans gave him a little grudging respect at Citifield during his farewell.