I love to collect autographs of famous persons and meet them in person as well when i can or send for one if i have a mail address whats awesome is sometimes I get a reply.

I'm not really an autograph collector, but there is something you should watch for that will tie your autograph and radio hobby together if you don't already have one. In 1942, E.F. McDonald, the Commander McDonald of Zenith fame, published a book called "Youth Must Fly". The Commander autographed quite a few of these and they still turn up from time to time. I have one in my collection that I got cheap at a used book store. If you can find one with a good original dust jacket, that's a plus.

EDIT: I just remembered I have two of these signed two different ways. One is signed as "E.F. McDonald" and the other, which was a gift to an admiral is signed "Gene McDonald".

I am not an ardent collector... but I do happen to have a piece of sheet music written in 1932 by George M. Cohan to celebrate Washington's 200th birthday I think called " Father of the land we love"

Anyway... he signed it in ink on the first page of notes (3).
Think it has any value?

you would have to know for sure if it is real I use a jewlers 10x to allways check the signature on the paper if its ink on top of the paper its may be real you can tell by looking very closely to see if the ink is on top as in like when you sighn a check or something like that I use that as an example.if it is then the next best thing to determin how much by doing a reaserch by autographs and there values check out autograph price guide
google search it also

http://www.google.com/products?q=price+ ... en&show=dd

Hi im into it.Got me a few in person over the years of sports car drivers,actors ,singers ect.My most prized ones are of World War Two pilots gunners radio operators .I have 18 all in person,they flew, B17.B24,P51,P40,P47,B29 ,B25.I have a bunch from Playboy Bunnies all in person too!I have Scott CrossfieldBob Hoover,Juile Clark,Hockey players,Bruce Jenner and many more in person,a bunch of models.I still chase after only the ones i can get in person.Angelo

Way Cool Spar man

I don't collect them per se, but I have Fred Allen, the Mad Russian, and Lum & Abner.

With the technolgy today in many cases you have to send it out to be DNA by professional graders like PSA. Lots of conterfiets going around.
Saw the other day they arrested a couple guys that were coping the slips you get from the coin change machine. The machine in the super markets that count your loose change. The slips were passed for thousands of dollars before they got caught. Nothing is fullproof nowadays.

I too clicked that I am not really into it. But...

I met Scott Crossfield a few years ago. I asked him to sign a picture of the X-15 that he flew in one of my Smithsonian coffee table books.

And I met and have the autograph of Col. Robert K. Morgan, pilot of the Memphis Belle. He autographed photo of the crew and and his book.

Other things that I have are documents that belonged to my mom's late cousin, Donald Shure Nelson. He is my namesake. I have several documents signed by Hap Arnold, Harry Truman, and I forget who else.

My mom was born and lived in her young years in Dixon, Illinois. Ronald Reagan also was from there and when he was a teenager, he was a lifeguard at a swimming hole on the Rock River. Mom said all the girls were enamoured with his good looks and they would pretend to be drowning so he would rescue them.

Someone unknown to mom took a picture of him packing her out of the water one day and had the picture developed and gave it to her. When she got the picture, she had Ronald sign the back of the picture, as he was every girls hero at the time, long before getting into movies and politics.

I remember seeing the picture many years ago, but somehow it got lost. She always wanted to find that picture and send it to him when he was president and seeing if he remembered clear back to the late 1920's, but it never happened.

We figured the picture must have been lost sometime in the early 1970's.
Curt

Due to all the fakes that are out there today, i would only collect ones that i have personally witnessed being signed or ones that have been certified by a reputable source.
-Tony

Yup... I handed the book to Scott and to Col. Morgan. Sadly, both are now gone...

Our family has collected autographs for several generations. Mostly literary and golden-age opera performers, with a few motion-picture, broadway and legitimate actors thrown in for good measure. We have sold some of the more valuable, but have retained a few interesting items:

a 1st edition of Frost's "North of Boston" which he inscribed to father, the inscription including the entire text of "The Road Less Traveled",

a Millay autograph of her "Ballad of the Harp-Weaver",

a bunch of Amy Lowell stuff, generally inscribed to Abby Farwell Brown, along with most of Miss Brown's personal papers,

Piles of photos and correspondence from the late Beverly Sills,

ditto Kiersten Flagstad,

many John Crowe Ransome items,

an extended correspondence with Ford Maddox Ford,


Ditto, Mark Van Doren,

ditto, correspondence with my old mentor Fred Turner

the personal papers of Col. Christian Rath, the excecutioner of the Lincoln conspirators.


and a long (full page), amusing autograph letter from John Steinbeck explaining exactly why he always refused requests for autographs, signed "John Steinbeck" in bold script.! It appears that the great writer was possessed of an excellent sense of humor.