One benefit of reading this website is that you get to witness history in the making. Last year I displayed my collection of Leave It To Beaver cast autographs up to that point, which can be seen here. At that time I lamented that I had been unsuccessful at obtaining the signature of Tony Dow, the actor who played Wally in the series. Through-the-mail attempts had been thwarted and even an attempt to purchase a signature yielded me an unfortunate forgery.
Had I not been attending the Hollywood Collectors Show on October 4, 2008, I most certainly would have sent these photos out to Bob to have them signed, but fortunately I already had plans solidifed to attend the show anyway. So when Bob told me that Tony Dow was going to be inattendance, he started the sentence with “you’re gonna be excited!” Indeed I was.
Not only was I thrilled to get the signatures and a photo with him, but he was a very nice guy as well. He was charging $15 each to sign your own personable item, very reasonable compared to some of the outlandish prices charged by others. He was friendly and talkative and was particulary impressed by the reunion cast shot signed by everyone including Joe Connelly. Bob was having several of these signed for our mutual friend Steve Cox and for an instant, you could see the dollar signs in Tony Dow’s eyes when he realized how valuable this could be.
When it came my turn, I assured him that I had had to take down this cast shot from my wall to bring it along and that it would remain in my own personal collection. I also told him that I had been trying to get his signature on the shot with Jerry Mathers for 23 years now and was thrilled to finally get the chance to over two decades later.
Although an unexpected surprise and not part of the original plan, this was yet another ‘dream come true’ to add to the amazing memories I would have from this week in California.
Autographs and celebrities of the 2008 Hollywood Collectors show will continue…
any interest in selling any of your leave it to beaver signed photos? shoot me an email if you are. thanks
cory clarkson
coclarkson@yahoo.com
cory
April 20th, 2014