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Publicity portraits signed for Latin American magazines - mostly secretarial or not?

During a recent discussion, fellow member Etienne mentioned that he had been told by Tom Kramer (respected dealer, recently retired) that most publicity portraits dedicated to Latin American magazines were well-executed secretarials.

Having a stack of such "dedicated portraits" myself, this really "put the wind up me". I always knew that a publicity photograph dedicated to a magazine is not a lot less likely to be secretarial than a dedicated portrait sent to a fan through the post - you only need to look at some of the portraits dedicated to the British "Picture Post" magazine to see that - and I always did at least a minimal amount of due diligence research before buying. Sometimes I bought signed portraits even if I had my doubts, just because the image was so strong.

Over the last few days I've gone back to quite a few of my signed portraits dedicated to Latin American magazines and done some more Google research on the better-known names, where possible looking at "PSA card" examples. In some cases I could find very little relevant reference material, for example where my portrait was "signed" at an early stage of the star's career. I will post some individual items in the "Is This Autograph Real?" section for additional feedback. These are not necessarily ones that give me cause for concern.

Based on what I've done so far, I don't think that all that many of my portaits are secretarial. The ones that may be secretarial feature stars who typically used secretaries for signing anyway. I will re-visit this conclusion once I hear back from members on the individual items but for now:

1. Does anyone know why portraits dedicated to South American magazines are particularly likely to be secretarial?

2. Is it possible that the magazines themselves would have forged the signatures? Highly unlikely I know.

3. Just how common are portraits dedicated to South American magazines? In all my Googling I came across only one other example by a star that I have in my collection (a Rita Hayworth that the seller seems very confident is real and has priced accordingly) and a handful of others.

4. How did the secretaries get so good and why did they go to great lengths to make the autographs "so real"? Most magazine readers and fan recipients would probably not have known what the star's autograph looked like anyway.

Once I've had some feedback on my dedicated portraits I'll re-visit this thread with some final thoughts.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on April 3, 2021 at 8:32am

Hi a pug called eva-

How about putting the images of your Leigh here as well. It might be good to just have one thread on this so it's consistent. I'll comment in just a bit here.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on April 3, 2021 at 9:13am

Also, just a little clarification....the dedications in Spanish to the magazines would have been pre-1960 so called "Golden Age" of Hollywood.....so classic film stars.

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on April 3, 2021 at 10:20am

Hi Etienne, thank you. I could add the images here but I'd rather do this once people have had a chance to comment within dedicated (no pun intended) threads. For one thing, this should ensure that the individual items get seen by the people who might want to comment (the star's name being in the title) and, for another, it should reduce the risk of confusion - people very often lose track of what is being commented on if there are multiple images in a thread.

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Permalink Reply by Raymond Regan on July 1, 2021 at 4:39pm

I've read this post pertaining to the signed Spanish magazine photos, with great interest. I will fall in the same camp as Pug.

How did the secretaries get so good and why did they go to great lengths to make the autographs "so real"? Most magazine readers and fan recipients would probably not have known what the star's autograph looked like anyway.

Many of the stills in question, are of great quality and obviously supplied by the studios. In some cases, I would say the still is as or more valuable than the autograph. Would the forger really go out of his way to fake a Zasu Pitts autograph on a valuable 1930’s still? A bad forgery would diminish the value of the still.

Another point to reflect on, is the studios involvement in these promotions. From my knowledge of Hollywood in the 1940’s and 1950’s the promotion machine was everything. Foreign distribution was a gold mind for the studios. They would certainly go out of their way to get their product out to a wider audience.

I am assuming, in certain instances, a live (phone) interview, or at the least a studio produced publicity bio, would have accompanied these signed images as a feature for publication in these periodicals. Almost every actor or actress bio I have ever read, touches on the grind of the publicity tour. Only the biggest stars would have enough leverage to not be required to participate. The studio control over these actors and actresses is legendary.

In John Kobal’s wonderful book, “People Will Talk”, quite a few of his “off the cuff” interviews, most conducted in the 1960’s and 1970’s, are interrupted by publicity calls, for the actors, to and from various print media. And these are stars of the 30’s and 40’s doing interviews in the 60’s and 70’s! Still beholden to the studios.

I agree that, as with anything signed else in this hobby, secretarial autographs will show up. That is the nature of the beast. If the star is known to not sign through the mail, why wouldn’t they continue this practice with print publications?

One more thought, on the type of ink used in some of these. Maybe, since these were acquired with the express purpose of reproducing the image in the periodicals in, I think the term is “Dou-tone”, a certain type of ink needed to be used to show up in print? Could the pen have been supplied by the periodical? Something we will never know. But interesting thoughts to ponder.

I am a big fan of Tom Kramer. The best vintage Hollywood dealer I have ever known. If this quote were attributed verbatim from him, I would have to call it as a generalization.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on July 1, 2021 at 5:46pm

I just noticed this thread from April is being revisited. We had discussed this issue of these dedicated autographs to Spanish language magazines through several threads. In the OP above from a pug called eva, their post begins:

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My memory is not always the best at times, so I looked and did find one of my responses to this subject on another thread. I had worded it at the time to appear less final and conclusive in tone:

Years ago Tom Kramer advised caution regarding these vintage inscriptions on photos to Spanish speaking magazines. He shared that he had seen many forgeries having dedications to magazines like this one. -Etienne

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on July 1, 2021 at 5:50pm

I was simply sharing what a respected long-time dealer and friend had shared with me. IMHO....that advice, based upon his experience, kept me from repeating earlier mistakes I came believe I had repeatedly made involving these kind of photos. As a collector, I have just simply avoided them. I had also offered to take back any that I had sold to or traded with other collector friends if they also felt uncomfortable with them after sharing what I had learned.

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Permalink Reply by David Lewis on July 1, 2021 at 6:08pm

Etienne, On this subject I will most likely agree with you. I probably have purchased from Mr. Kramer in the past……Not to mention Mr. Kramer posted exemplars from my brother in law on some of his WW2 Hollywood starlets on his site….I taught my brother in law to study those Hollywood Icons……that and a cup of coffee…..

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on July 1, 2021 at 7:24pm

That is not unlike saying 80% of 5x7 portraits from the '30's-40's are secretarial - but that also means 1 in 5 could well be genuine, so best to be careful.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on July 1, 2021 at 9:02pm

A discussion about these dedicated photos might actually be better served as a blog. It seems it may be helpful to see some examples of these that have been on the market over the years and go from there. Perhaps others also have experience with them.

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Permalink Reply by David Lewis on July 1, 2021 at 5:21pm

pug called eva, I have had a Rita Hayworth Latin signed "Ilustrado" for many, many, many years in a file I thought was a p.o.s. that had a note on it to never sell it unless 3rd party authenticated. It also has a strange multicolored ink to the naked eye…..which is why I have always felt it was wrong. If you wound be so kind to throw down your Rita, I will show you mine.