The Difficulty of Autograph Collecting
Written by |
Bobby Gonzales
AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING HOBBY
When I started collecting autographs as a hobby in 1979, the world of celebrity access was wonderfully different than today. Many celebrities, especially those from the Golden Age of Hollywood, had accessible addresses from fellow hobbyists and publications. Collecting autographs through the mail (TTM) was a fun and fruitful hobby. If you could find them, you could usually get a signature - even if it was just a return-receipt from sending certified mail. The most reclusive and hard-to-find celebrities were our Holy Grail, but many people that you just wouldn't believe (Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock, Ava Gardner ... the list goes on) would authentically answer through the mail. For those of us who are autograph collectors because we LOVE autographs for our own collection and hobby, it was pure joy. And then along came the internet ... and its sewer of re-sellers, fake certificates of authenticity, publication of celebrity addresses. The party's over.
AUTOGRAPHS ARE MONEY
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