THE BIRTH OF AN AUTOGRAPH COLLECTOR

So I am sitting down working out what to say that is coherent but doesn't sound like my 4th class school ma'am...so what got me into the game...over the years I had owned numerous signed books and had worked in an Antiquarian bookstore where volumes signed by TE Lawrence, F Scott Fitzgerald and Agatha Christie were not totally rare...but it had always been the age and appearance and contents of the book which had turned me on...for a long time during the 1980-90s I had been travelling locally buying a mixed bag of treasures from locals which ranged from Boer War Medals to Netsuke figures...and a hell of a lot of dross in between...I had been to one house a couple of times talking to a nice old couple and bought some old book and china and then one day the gentleman is chatting away and I find out he is one of the oldest living Olympic sportsmen in Australia having been born on ANZAC Day 1915...the actual same time as our Aussies and Kiwis were being massacred due to a certain stuff up by a chap called Winston Churchill (Winnie to his mates and #$^@ to many colonials)...anyway, this chap, Basil had competed against Jesse Owens in Berlin and had met up with him later in London where he been a tough time by his Yankee masters (and I mean literally!!!) in the AAA...anyway (this was also my first interview article) Basil arranged for me to sell a special White City Invitation signed by Jesse and a whole host of Olympic Gold Medallists...I also sold a Wehrmacht Dagger and a Hitler Youth Knive for him through eBay...and thus my love of signed memorabilia officially started...Basil still lives a few streets away from me and at the age of 90 still drives his car up to the nursing home to visit his wife and do the shopping...but he would stop by and tell me stories from his various careers...and show me his letters and other memorabilia and medals like his recent Federation Medal (which took our government about 3 years to get organised...)

When I look at a lot of autographs, it is often the history and the stories behind the signature that gives an item its special meaning...it is very much for me an iconographic venture and therefore certain images or signers will always have more meaning than others...

It is also why many modern signers can be regarded as pathetic when you see ever changing squiggly lines that barely can be interpreted by the signer much less the collector...the fact that this is now a multi-billion dollar industry involving unscrupulous forgers and the like has made collecting a lot harder, but these changes have also made collecting more accessible and far more enjoyable for people unable to attend shows in America and England or who must collect on a budget...

Now we must aim to avoid the traps and make the industry safer for everyone...
The time worn cliche "let the buyer beware" should always ring loudly in your every purchase...
And I don't mean this when just buying from dealers or other collectors...

But enough chatter for blog #2...