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Permalink Reply by Kurt Landthaler on July 28, 2018 at 9:56pm

More photos of signatures

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• 100_5138.JPG, 235 KB
• 100_5140.JPG, 355 KB

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 28, 2018 at 10:26pm

I'm not as good as others on Sinatra, but I think they're both likely secretarial. Instead of selling them yourself, I recommend either sending them to an auction house that is known for vintage Hollywood and seeing if they'll take one or both on consignment or contacting a vintage Hollywood dealer. They'll handle authentication.

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on July 29, 2018 at 4:37am

I believe the photo as a decent shot of being authentic. I would try contacting Tom Kramer at Golden Age Autographs and see what he thinks.

https://www.goldenageautographs.com

Are you intending to sell the signed photo?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 29, 2018 at 6:26am

I thought the photo was likely real at first too. It has a lot of his characteristics. But the X-height of the small letters and the speed don't look like him to me, especially in the inscription. If he had to press so hard because of the photo, that might cause that, but I haven't seen it before. 

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on July 29, 2018 at 6:33am

It doesn't appear to be a secretarial from known examples I'm aware of. So, it's either signed by Frank or it's a very good forgery. It certainly catches my eye. I like it. 

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Permalink Reply by Gregory on July 29, 2018 at 6:58am

The photo looks very good to me.  The signature and writing are both consistent with Mr. S’s writing in the late 1940s.  It’s interesting that it looks like he used a ball point pen rather than a fountain pen.  Ball point pens were just beginning to come into fashion after WWII and it looks like the flow of this particular pen wasn’t all that great (which may have caused him to slow his writing down in places).  I don’t remember seeing an earlier example of a period photo signed in ball point by Mr. S.  I like it very much.

As for the album, I don’t think it’s authentic.  The inscription looks secretarial to me.

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on July 29, 2018 at 7:01am

I agree with you Gregory. I wouldn't have a problem adding it to my collection!

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Permalink Reply by Gregory on July 29, 2018 at 7:10am

Me too, Joe!  It’s always so unusual (and exciting) to find a real Sinatra autograph tucked away in someone’s collection for years and years.

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Permalink Reply by Kurt Landthaler on July 29, 2018 at 9:55am

I appreciate your taking the time and replying to this post. Gregory, this photo truly was "tucked away for years and years". While we were sorting for an estate sale after Mother in law's passing, I came across the record albums and noticed the "signature" on the album cover. When I opened the cover the photo was tucked inside. Needless to say, I set those items aside and they went home with us. Helen (the subject of the dedication) was M.I.L's neighbor in Los Angeles in the mid 40's through the 50's. Both of the women were huge Sinatra fans and went to his performances regularly. (They were East Coast Girls). We have had the items for the past 5 years "tucked away" in a box. We are prepping to downsize and move and will most likely sell them to a collector. 

I had researched signatures, the progression of his signature styles and even the history of ball point pens and everything seemed consistent on the photo. I don't know if Mr. Sinatra regularly dated the photos he signed, but it seems to be from the same color of ball point pen as the signature. 

I suppose the next step is to figure out the best way to get it to a collector who appreciates it.

Thanks again, 

Kurt

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Permalink Reply by Gregory on July 29, 2018 at 11:58am

It’s a great find, Kurt.  Thanks for sharing a bit about its history.

Frank would occasionally add the year after his name, usually in tiny numbers, which is consistent with what he did here.

Everything looks right to me on this photo.  Congratulations on what looks to be a really great find.

If you do decide to have it authenticated, I would avoid having it stickered.  In my opinion, the stickers are really obnoxious and I think they detract from vintage pieces like this.

It always makes me happy to see a genuine Sinatra autograph get in the hands of a diehard Sinatra fan.  You could probably find an interested buyer on this site in fact.  As far as auction settings go, I bet R&R would accept it on consignment and their Sinatra items tend to fetch better prices than eBay.

Best of luck with everything!

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