I wasn’t particularly busy with autograph collecting in March of 1986, but I did manage to send out three requests on March 10. One (of several) to Ray Bolger, which was returned on May 21, one to Shirley Temple who returned her second batch of photos on March 17, and one to Noel Neill who returned a signed photo on March 29. All of these autographs can seen in previous postings by clicking on the celeb’s name.
It wasn’t until May 22 that I returned to the excitement of autograph collecting, probably spurred by my excitement for the upcoming Sons of the Desert convention. On that day I sent out a large oversized envelope stuffed with an original reissue Our Gang lobby card to Mr. Dick Moore (other autographs from Moore can be seen here). He returned it on June 4. And secondly, I sent two lobby card reproductions to classic cowboy Roy Rogers.I was especially excited by getting both of these items signed. The first was a shot from Son of Paleface which had already been signed by Jane Russell (returned on March 17, 1986) and included what I thought at the time was a legitimate Bob Hope autograph. Unfortunately, I later realized that it was actually a secretarial. But the Roy Rogers signature that was added was certainly real.
Roy adds his old pal Trigger’s name to his famous catchphrase. It’s too bad that the phony Bob Hope signature rendered the photo practically worthless
The other lobby repro was from a much more obscure film called Bad Man of Deadwood. I had picked this piece out of a photo catalog and despite the fact that the sample image was about one-inch-by-two, I was able to spot the name Henry Brandon on the card. Henry was a co-star of Laurel and Hardy in the film Babes in Toyland and was going to be appearing at the upcoming convention later that Summer.
Some old British guy at the convention made a fuss over this photo as I waited to have Henry Brandon sign it
So obviously, as indicated by Henry’s signature, I got this item back in time to take it with me and get it signed in person. It arrived on on May 30, leaving plenty of time to spare before we left for the convention in Valley Forge.
Autographs of 1986 will continue…
Is this the request that got Ray Bolger to get the restraining order out on you?
Bob
January 22nd, 2008