Were mechanical signatures on Sports memoribilia prevelant in the 1960's?

Answer 1

Not really. During the 1960's as today Autopens (a mechanical device for signing signatures) were commonly used by Government officials, astronauts, and celebrities. Some popular sports figures might have used them as some others had secretaries, clubhouse officials, and spouses to sign Autographs request by fans through the mail. Some players even used rubber stamps of their signatures. This was done to please their fans, and not for proffit.

Today, the Sports Memorabilia business is a multi billion dollar industry. where ever there is big money to be made you can be sure that there will be scam artists out to get a piece of the action.

Before the baseball card boom of the late 1980's & early 1990's there was not a great demand for autographs of sports celebrities, or memorabilia. At least not as it is today, and not the kind of money that today's market brings. Even in the early 1990's you could get Mickey Mantle to sign an autograph for $15. and that was top dollar at the time.

The more expensive the sports Stars autographs became the more scam artist appeared looking for way to steal your money. Back in the 1960's it would have not been lucrative enough to go through the trouble of using an autopen to forge signatures. even if you could get $10. a signature, the demand would have not been there, and then you would need a outlet to sell them.

Today you can market, and sell 1000's of autographs through the internet, eBay, or sports memorabilia shows. back in the 1960's the resources were very limited, and the thought of paying for a signature did not exist in most minds. If you wanted an autograph of your favorite baseball ballplayer you stood by the foul line during batting practice, and hoped.

Below I will leave a link to my newsletter "FAKE SIMILAR AUTOGRAPHS - FACSIMILE" There might be some information there that you might be interested in.

This is a multi Billion dollar industry, and there are loads of scam artists out there trying to steal your money.