Feb. 4: We're expanding and reorganizing our discussion forums. We should be finished this weekend.

Excuse our dust.

The Vintage Signature of Jackie Gleason 1916-1987 "Ralph Kramden" 54 exemplars, All Known Secretarials and Preprints/Stamps.


The above vintage unique candid was from Gleason's final Estate sale.

Hi All,

In keeping with the format of the other threads about the vintage signatures of the main cast members of this beloved TV classic, this will, unlike my 4 part Richard Burton Signature Study, not be an in-depth illustrated biographical recount but a collection of authentic signatures presented in chronological order. This thread will be added to continually as I go through my exemplars. The initial iteration is presented below; much more will be added. This is intended to supersede all previous Gleason threads.. There are some 50 exemplars a long with all known secretarials, their names and periods with examples and link to even more.

October 13th, 1936(?) Billboard Document

April 15th, 1942 Tax document

January 17th,1944 Selective Service Registration Card

1944 album page:

1944 dedicated album page (0ne mine)

1945 cut stapled into a Playbill found for a member.March 18th, 1946 William Morris Agency Contract

Another William Morris from March 16th, 1946:

1946 ANS

C. 1946 El Morocco Matchbook

1948 dedicated album page

January-June, 1949 Playbill 

C. 1950 candid

C. 1950 portrait

C. 1950's portrait

c. early 1950's photograph

C. 1950 

c. early 1950's 

August 27th, 1951 album pag (0nce mine)

September 10th, 1951 album page

1952 

January 21st, 1953 NYC postcard (once mine, now a slabbed dateless cut!)

May 8th,1953 What's My Line sign in

May 25th, 1954 Passport

May 25th, 1954 Passport detail 1

May 25th, 1954 Passport detail 2

c. 1950's album page

Here is a postcard from Ruby Foo's Den, which closed in July, 1957 so this is likely several years before based  on the signature

September 4th, 1955 postcard (0nce mine)

1955 photograph MINE.

1956 book inscription "A Golden Ham", perhaps part of the limited softcover signed edition

1957 cut

September 21st-27th, 1959 Playbill

1961 signed card

1961 photograph

1962 oversized Ektachrome print - the only authentic signed color photograph I have ever seen (0nce mine)

1962 color oversized photograph detail - look  for the paraph in earlier examples

1963 photograph

1963 photograph

June 19th, 1967 UK Talk of The Town wine list (0nce mine)

October 25th, 1967 document

1969 

1969 photograph detail

1970 TWA passengers logbook

c. 1973

1974 John Verzi Collection

1970's green felt tip signature

1977 Golf Program

Another 1970's example

1977 photograph

1977

C. 1970's. The lone Classic '39 "bus photo" authentically signed by all:

1977 photograph

1980's ballpoint

1980's magazine cover

1980's album page

1980's

The Vintage Autograph of Audrey Meadows 1922-1996 "Alice Kramden"

The Vintage Signature of Art Carney 1918 - 2003 "Ed Norton"

The Vintage Signature of Joyce Randolph 1924-2024 "Trixie Norton"

The Honeymooners Television Program: Complete Vintage Cast Collecti...

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I REALLY did not to get into Gleason's secretarial signatures as that is a whole book, but since that is what you will most likely encounter I should:

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 3, 2025 at 2:53pm

Here is a perfect example of a secretarial Gleason offered, and shown on the PSA Facts for "The Honeymooners" page as authentic. Even the same photo. This is not Gleason but PA Sydell Spear. There are more secretarials/forgeries there than authentic! I am going to try and fix that, as the "Gleason" page.

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 3, 2025 at 2:55pm

Note the dashes - I have so far not seen a genuine Gleason with any dashes. Spear? Always. 

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 13, 2025 at 12:08pm

Another Saddleman secretarial for sale - eBay # 406458927101. Might be a forgery. Not Jackie.

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 26, 2025 at 1:32am

Here is a good comparison between secretarial and authentic Gleason c.1977 (blue):

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 27, 2025 at 12:07pm

You can see Sydell Spear is aware of contrast/placement and legibility. Gleason has no such concerns.  I have "never" seen a Spear in anything but black felt tip as far as I can remember. Also - that dash. I do not think I have ever seen Gleason employ a dash. To her "credit" Spear did get the signing angle correct. I have seen Spear signed "Gleason" signed 5x7's with postal dates while he was actively dying. That, and he sent a letter along with the true 1960's version f his bus drivers uniform to the R.A.L.P.H. Association - a letter with a Spear secretarial signature. in about 1985/86. I have a copy of that. 

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on January 4, 2026 at 9:05am

I just added another March 18th, 1946 William Morris contract signature.

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on January 30, 2026 at 6:08pm

Hello all,

I was sent this superb Gleason which I have added to the main body of this article. Here is my response:

I authenticated your Gleason in under 1 second—from the preview alone. I place it to 1946 based on the style. I am putting this in my 'The Vintage Signature of Jackie Gleason' study ASAP, if you don't mind. It is a beautiful early/vintage ballpoint example. While El Morocco was a fixture for decades, this specific typography and the ELdorado 5-8769 phone exchange are the 'smoking guns' for the mid-1940s.

This wasn't just a club; it was the 'Blue Zebra' striped sanctuary of the rich and famous. For the young Jackie Gleason in the mid-40s, this was where you went to see and be seen while clawing your way up the NYC nightclub ladder. Before this, he was a regular at clam bars in New Jersey as early as 1936—'Jumping Jackie Gleason.' Gleason then spent two years (1941–42) in Hollywood where he appeared in nearly a dozen films. He was just coming off his run in the Broadway show Follow the Girls (1944–1946), which was his first taste of real success. He was likely sitting at El Morocco, flush with Broadway cash, signing this for a fan or a fellow 'night owl.'

Look at the vertical number on the right edge: 44-344. In matchbook manufacturing of this era (particularly Universal Match Corp), these numbers often coded the production run. While not always a direct date, a '44' prefix frequently indicated a 1944 design or plate run.

Ballpoint pens only became commercially available and popular in the U.S. starting in late 1945 (the Reynolds Rocket). This confirms the date is almost certainly 1946–1948, which is in line with my opinion

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