Autographs Through the Mail

There are still many who will sign autographs through the mail for only the price of postage going both ways. One can still easily get enough autographs with the aid of a good celebrity address book to pay for the book several times over. The autograph industry also has a monthly publication, "Autograph Collector." The magazine is a good source of free celebrity addresses. Recent back issues can be ordered from the company's ebsite or purchased on eBay. My favorite autographs through the mail usually have more story attached than monetary value. One of my favorites is the recently deceased Lloyd Bucher who's claim to fame was as commander of the U.S.S. Pueblo, captured by North Korea. Eight-two surviving crew members were held captive for 11 months. North Korea still holds the ship captive and, oddly enough, it is a major tourist attraction there.

I asked Bucher for an autograph - free, of course. He answered with a form letter signed "B," stating that he had recently became aware that people were profiting from his autographs, and he might has well start selling it himself. I decided to buy a signed copy of a "Time" magazine cover story for $10. Commander Bucher must have felt guilty because along with the signed cover, he sent a note signed "Pete," a signed copy of his painting of the Pueblo (he was also a great artist), a small portfolio of his art and three copies of his other paintings in the form of greeting cards.

I also kept my canceled check with his endorsement on the back. A few years later I added to the collection a White House letter (autopen) from the Bucher estate that then President Clinton had sent Bucher in answer to a letter that Bucher sent Clinton. The subject is not directly addressed in the letter, but his estate says that Bucher was concerned about Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding gays in the military.

I asked the Dennis the Menace cartoonist, Marcus Hamilton, for a signed sketch, and he sent me back a nice one. A couple years later, he bought a Dennis the Menace poster from one of my eBay auctions. I then reminded him that we had "met" before and I asked him for a sketch for my daughter. A few days later it was in my mail box.

I asked the horror writer Dean Koontz to autograph a video box. The movie was an adaptation of one of his books. He sent me back an 8 page info sheet with a note on the first page "Bill - I can't sign the video box because I had nothing to do with the film --- and I LOATHED it!. He also included a nice signed photo, "Boo! Dean Koontz 11/12/96."

Some of my other favorite autographs through the mail are a Dale Earnhardt / Richard Petty duel signed TV Guide. A "Grumpier Old Men" VHS box with the signatures of Sophia Loren and Jack Lemmon, a signed Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger vintage comic book and a General Colin Powell Newsweek Cover. Generally, you will not get your most valuable autographs through the mail for free, but it's still a cheap, but fun way to add to a collection.

I have many through the mail autographs in my collection, but a few favorites not yet mentioned are Bill Cosby, Shirley MacLaine, Charlton Heston, Tony Curtis, Dick Van Dyke, Dolly Parton, Hulk Hogan, Dick Clark, Annette Funicello, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo), Dennis Weaver, Burt Reynolds, Shirley Temple (Black), Art Carney, and Rod Stewart. Several of those just named are now deceased, so a good time to start writing for autographs is "now."

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