Welcome, Steve Cyrkin!

Steve,

Thanks for the heads up about my blog. Hope you can retrieve it. If not, don't lose any sleep over it as I won't. Joe Galiardi

Hi Steve, thanks for the welcome. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but in response to that Billie letter all I can say is I can't imagine the self loathing that trumps my losing a 10 of 10, 5X7 Billie (Club Downbeat) souvenir card with an inscription about staying happy, a huge signature and a 'Lady Day' to boot for just about $1100 bucks, but you may have me beat. That's holy grail status in the Billie world. What did it end at? Had to be past 5 or 6K.

I love her and have a few things left, like the charts, some stuff from her desk (whatever that might have been) like autographed photos signed to to her and a simple hat (that I can't find!). These were all finds from a trunk that belonged to Louis McKay and supposedly ended up in cousins garage in NJ. I purchased the pieces in the very early days of eBay, when everything collectible flowed a little better. I took just what I could afford at the time. There were some beautiful items like gloves, sunglasses, costume jewels and her funeral receipts.

What can I say? 

Steve, I keep getting a "sorry that upload won't work" when attempting to upload the image...It (and the next two I'd send) are small, i.e. 1mb or less. I'm not sure why though I use Zone Alarm Extreme and it can be a bit of a bully sometimes. I'll check back soon once I solve that problem. PS: I did NOT know that you were in the middle of a Jimi Hendrix conversation with someone else when I said "Hendrix" in my answers! Funny. I tell the story here (scroll down below the pictures to see my story) about seeing Hendrix: my first live concert http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=Dome

Hi Steve...thanks for the welcome. Though I mentioned my areas of expertise the item I'm researching is only tangently in my area. It is a 78 RPM opera record. As a collector I know that in general, it's rare that a 78 has any great value. The item I'm researching came with two boxes of records including one box of 78s all, in extraordinarly good shape. I won't get into what I know about them at the moment because there is only one of serious interest because it is inscribed: RCA Red Seal 14901 78rpm. Side A-Song of the Volga Boatman/Song of the Flea. Sung by opera singer Feodor Chalapin (1873-1938). On side A he has inscribed the following in the run-off: Fedor Chalapin/Feb. 6, 1936/Japan. According to Wikipedia his last live performances were in Japan. This recording was owned by a woman who traveled the world to see Opera performed (she is deceased). Her immediate relative is 90 years old and inherited this record from her. I've researched his signature and found several examples for sale...all on programs or other paper goods but none on an actual recording. I shot a few pictures of it: No problem viewing the recording but I'm having a hard time making the lettering stand out in a photograph...I'll finish doing that shortly and post the images. Thanks for your time and interest. 

I would like to find out what it is worth and any other information that would be helpful.  Tomorrow I will upload the scans of the letter.

My friend Thom's great Aunt was a secretary to a lawyer who received the letter asking for donations.  They took great pride in the letter and all that Helen was able to acomplish.  They had a cousin who was blind and the efforts of Ms. Keller helped her and people like her all over the world.  This letter is three typed pages and a list of contributors signed in pencil by Helen,  Sent in 1939.

Thanks Steve.  I have found this photo in my grandparents files. It appears to be authentic, but there is one identical, with identical signature on the mitchlllibrary.org site (Glasgow City council) page 779 record 927. This makes me wonder which of us has a copy.  I appreciate any assistance with my research!

Hi Steve,

I have photos with autographs of actors and actresses from 1992-present.  Robin Williams, Farah Fawcett, Chevy Chase, Rutger Hauer, Brian Dennehy, Adrian Paul, Patrick Duffy, Jon Voight, David Hasselhoff, Michael Gross, Adam Sandler, Faye Dunaway and more.  Some of them are personalized to me!

Thanks!