Autograph club
Encyclopedia
Autograph clubs were developed for both the collectors
and dealer to obtain knowledge in the hobby
of autograph
collecting known as philography.
Autograph collecting may have started in the 16th century when Germans
kept albums of correspondence when they traveled. By the late 18th century in Europe it was popular to collect letters of famous people. Until the 20th century, literary, political, and religious autographs were collected. With the creation of the cinema
, radio
, and television
autographs from popular culture figures were sought. Since the mid 1970s hobby shops began appearing in the United States. The hobby of collecting autographs took off in the 1980s. by the 1990s the industry sky rocketed. According to Brookes Barnes, the autograph market is worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Handwritten letters are most sought after and are valued at three to five times the value of typed letters. A handwritten letter from Beethoven fetched $50,000 and a letter from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
fetched $10,500. in the early years sports signatures were particularly sought after reaching high prices. The death of any celebrity resulted in a rise in prices of autograph memorabilia. This made autographs of all types worth collecting. According to an article in the New York Times
by Diane Sierpina, there are 1 million autographed document collectors nationwide and there are 5 million autographs collectors in the United States alone. According to Sports Collector Digest, the sports autograph market is worth $500 million. This number is in sports autographs alone; add celebrity
, political, and other categories of autographs, and the number might reach the billions.
In the late 1990s according to the FBI
, 70% of autograph memorabilia on the market was bogus. Due to the large amount of counterfeit autograph memorabilia, autograph clubs were developed to give potential purchasers the confidence to buy. It is a fact that a piece of autograph memorabilia is sold every 15 seconds on eBay
or other Internet
sites. The Autograph Club was first seen in the 1940s, with the hobby growing different clubs began emerging onto the scene. As the autograph clubs advanced, they began developing many new strategies to help the collector. Historically, clubs occurred in many different countries. Once people started buying, selling, and trading, there was need for people with a common interest to be able to associate with one another despite having no ties other than a common hobby. Autograph clubs were created for interest and enjoyment, along with financial rewards. Involvement in autograph clubs can lead to building advanced skills, knowledge, and experience. Education is the aim of most autograph clubs.
.
Autograph Fair Trade Association Ltd - A UK based association formed during the 'Sporting Icons' forgery trial of Faisal Medani and Graeme Walker of Chester. Such was the scale of the forgery, the largest of its kind at that time, that a group of established dealers formed AFTAL to ensure that the general public would be able to purchase authentic signed memorabilia without the worry of it being fake. All AFTAL dealers have to abide by a very strict code which covers both authenticity and customer service. Well over 150 dealers have applied to join, but many are refused, and the current dealer list on their website currently stands at just over 80 members. AFTAL
International Autograph Society (ADA) - was founded in 1986. Its members share an interest in handwritings of all kinds. The fields of collecting are multi-faceted according to the collectors’ fields themselves. The focus comprises manuscript
s, autographed letter signed, signed document
s, SP, FDC, cartoons and autograph cards.
Manuscript Society - The oldest society of autograph and manuscript collectors in the United States, the Manuscript Society has become an international organization with members in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. While collectors formed the heart of the organization in 1948, its membership today includes archivists, manuscript curators, librarians, and prominent manuscript dealers and auction
houses.
International Autograph Dealer Alliance and Collectors Club (IADA-CC.Com) - This club is one the largest groups dedicated exclusively to autographs and autograph collecting.
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
and dealer to obtain knowledge in the hobby
Hobby
A hobby is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.- Etymology :A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse...
of autograph
Autograph
An autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...
collecting known as philography.
Autograph collecting may have started in the 16th century when Germans
kept albums of correspondence when they traveled. By the late 18th century in Europe it was popular to collect letters of famous people. Until the 20th century, literary, political, and religious autographs were collected. With the creation of the cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
autographs from popular culture figures were sought. Since the mid 1970s hobby shops began appearing in the United States. The hobby of collecting autographs took off in the 1980s. by the 1990s the industry sky rocketed. According to Brookes Barnes, the autograph market is worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Handwritten letters are most sought after and are valued at three to five times the value of typed letters. A handwritten letter from Beethoven fetched $50,000 and a letter from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
fetched $10,500. in the early years sports signatures were particularly sought after reaching high prices. The death of any celebrity resulted in a rise in prices of autograph memorabilia. This made autographs of all types worth collecting. According to an article in the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
by Diane Sierpina, there are 1 million autographed document collectors nationwide and there are 5 million autographs collectors in the United States alone. According to Sports Collector Digest, the sports autograph market is worth $500 million. This number is in sports autographs alone; add celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
, political, and other categories of autographs, and the number might reach the billions.
In the late 1990s according to the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, 70% of autograph memorabilia on the market was bogus. Due to the large amount of counterfeit autograph memorabilia, autograph clubs were developed to give potential purchasers the confidence to buy. It is a fact that a piece of autograph memorabilia is sold every 15 seconds on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
or other Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
sites. The Autograph Club was first seen in the 1940s, with the hobby growing different clubs began emerging onto the scene. As the autograph clubs advanced, they began developing many new strategies to help the collector. Historically, clubs occurred in many different countries. Once people started buying, selling, and trading, there was need for people with a common interest to be able to associate with one another despite having no ties other than a common hobby. Autograph clubs were created for interest and enjoyment, along with financial rewards. Involvement in autograph clubs can lead to building advanced skills, knowledge, and experience. Education is the aim of most autograph clubs.
List of autograph clubs
Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC) - The largest autograph organization in the world with members in over 20 countries. The UACC educates the autograph collector in all aspects of the hobby on the UACC website and on the pages of The Pen & QuillThe Pen & Quill
The Pen & Quill is an American publication about collectible autographs and manuscripts. It was created by the Universal Autograph Collectors Club - UACC[1], and emphasizes historical figures, events, autographs and manuscripts. The worldwide members of the UACC include key historical institutions,...
.
Autograph Fair Trade Association Ltd - A UK based association formed during the 'Sporting Icons' forgery trial of Faisal Medani and Graeme Walker of Chester. Such was the scale of the forgery, the largest of its kind at that time, that a group of established dealers formed AFTAL to ensure that the general public would be able to purchase authentic signed memorabilia without the worry of it being fake. All AFTAL dealers have to abide by a very strict code which covers both authenticity and customer service. Well over 150 dealers have applied to join, but many are refused, and the current dealer list on their website currently stands at just over 80 members. AFTAL
International Autograph Society (ADA) - was founded in 1986. Its members share an interest in handwritings of all kinds. The fields of collecting are multi-faceted according to the collectors’ fields themselves. The focus comprises manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s, autographed letter signed, signed document
Document
The term document has multiple meanings in ordinary language and in scholarship. WordNet 3.1. lists four meanings :* document, written document, papers...
s, SP, FDC, cartoons and autograph cards.
Manuscript Society - The oldest society of autograph and manuscript collectors in the United States, the Manuscript Society has become an international organization with members in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. While collectors formed the heart of the organization in 1948, its membership today includes archivists, manuscript curators, librarians, and prominent manuscript dealers and auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
houses.
International Autograph Dealer Alliance and Collectors Club (IADA-CC.Com) - This club is one the largest groups dedicated exclusively to autographs and autograph collecting.
External links
- http://www.iada-cc.com
- http://www.autograph-club.org
- http://www.AFTAL.co.uk