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Authenticity is Everything
New to Hobby 1948 Babe Ruth Signed Baseball...Ball Point Pen?
Hello everyone ~
I recently acquired this [single] signed Babe Ruth Baseball from a gentleman who inherited the ball from his father, in 1988. The father, who presented the ball to his son, with a rather formal letter (the original letter was included with the ball), outlined how the ball was acquired. The father of the seller of the ball was 9 years old, in 1948, and was in attendance with his father (the sellers grandfather), and Uncle for a New Bern, NC exhibition game - their local team against the House of David (a kind of Harlem Globetrotters of baseball) baseball team. The real attraction to this game was suppose to be the attendance of Babe Ruth. It was known at the time that Babe Ruth was very ill, but they weren't aware of just how ill. During the game it was announced that Babe Ruth was currently hospitalized, and of course could not attend. As a consolation the stadium was sent a half dozen balls for raffle; the seller's father, won, one of the balls. A great story/provenance. Included with the ball was several newspaper articles outlining Ruth's connection with New Bern, NC - it was a favorite hunting and fishing spot that Ruth used regularly to get away from the hustle and bustle of NYC.
The letter from the father was titled "Authentication of the Bonner Family Babe Ruth Autographed Baseball". The letterhead was from the father's fisheries biologist stationary, and refers to him also being an outdoor columnist. The letter, in part talks about how the ball was taken to the Maryland Baseball Hall of Fame Museum many years ago, and the curator at the time, Gregory Schwalenberg authenticated the ball, and stated at the time, it was a better example than any of the other three they had in the museum at the time. This of course was before the days of any real authentication service like PSA or JSA. That said, the ball has recently been authenticated by JSA.
Here is my question about this signature. Although the JSA authentication states that the ball was signed with a steel-tip fountain pen, this very much looks as if it was signed with a ball point pen. So my first question is what your opinion with regard to this, and if a ball point pen signature is rare for Ruth? Reading up on the history of the ball point pen - they were introduced to the US market through Macy's in 1945, and never really caught on until the 1950's.
Any input you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Mark
Tags: Autographed, Babe, New, Ruth, Signed, Yankees, York
- Attachments: No photo uploads here
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ruth-ball.jpg, 179 KB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mark Seager on
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I might add that the reason I think this may be a ball point pen is the crossing of the 'T' in Ruth - it appears that the start of that cross has a circular start point.
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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
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Hello,
I make no comment on the signature as I have nothing to say - not my area. I think it is steel tip/fountain pen though. What is more likely in 1948 - dip pen/fountain pen or ballpoint? In 1948, a blue ballpoint pen (unusual) would likely have a considerable amount of varnish as binder, so there might be yellowing as well as the skipping the early ball points are known for. You photo appears to have a distorted white balance - so I can't tell, and color correction at 5 am seems a bad idea. It appears so yellow one wonders if the ball is shellacked; and would such shellac dissolve early ballpoint? As those questions are not for me, I looked at your signature in negative, and it appears to be a steel tip from the ink flow and variations in stroke width, such as the bottom of the "R" or the end of the last stroke, but what do others think? The end of the cross on the "t" could indicate a nib?
Eric
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Thank you for the reply, and analysis. This is what I was looking for, from someone of your knowledge base. Ironically, I adjusted the balance, saturation, etc, in an attempt to have the signature 'stand out' more, for individuals to see a bit more clearly. Changing it to negative makes sense to see what needs to be seen.
There is no varnish on the ball, and I'm impressed you were able to outline exactly what I had modified on the photo to present it to everyone here.
Thank you again for your input. I have very little knowledge on this subject.
Mark
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Hi Mark,
Thank you very much. Let's see what others think. Lots of folks here with much expertise and experience.
Best wishes,
Eric
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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on
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I agree with Eric completely, this is indeed a fountain pen signature. Along with what Eric pointed out, you can see the width of the ink line at the start of the R as well. Ballpoint would not leave such a wide line and then "slim" down to a fine line with the motion of the pen.
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