Autographs

An autograph is a document written entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one transcribed by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph. more...

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Autograph also refers to a person's signature. This term is used in particular for the practice of collecting autographs of celebrities. The collection of autographs is known as philography.

Customs

In East Asia, an autograph from famous gentry is regarded as an honour. The value of an item bearing a high official's autograph could rise incredibly. In imperial China, an autograph from an emperor was considered priceless but to sell such an item could be a criminal offense.

In Europe and North America, asking a celebrity for their autograph was seen as a child's activity up to a few decades ago. The popularity of collecting autographs as a hobby came during the 1980s. Many memorabilia dealers took notice, and what once was an innocent hobby lost that innocence as dealers and celebrities began to charge money for their signatures.

That practice changes from country to country and in some locales charging for autographs could be considered mercenary.

Charging for autographs

Many celebrities still enjoy signing autographs for free for fans, keeping it an interesting hobby. Hilary Duff has publicly lashed out at other teen idol stars who avoid autograph collectors. Art Carney was another person who enjoyed signing autographs until his death in November of 2003.

Many people are not willing to distribute their signature—at least not for free. Sports personalities in this category include most baseball players, including the majority of the New York Yankees, the late Joe Dimaggio, and most notoriously, Barry Bonds. Other sports stars who try to avoid signing whenever possible are Bill Russell, who does not sign at all, and most NBA stars with huge contracts. The legendary Michael Jordan, would not and could not sign for most of his career because people's safety was at risk due to frenzied attempts to get his signature, which is worth hundreds of dollars. Jordan has frequently signed at more peaceful events, such as golf tournaments. It is also difficult to get Michael Jackson's autograph. A typical scenario is hundreds of fans in a crush waiting by Jackson's hotel, with Jackson signing five or ten autographs as he rushes to his vehicle.

Demands on celebrities

Many dealers also would wait for hours for a celebrity to emerge from a location, present several photos for the celebrity to sign and then sell most of them. Some dealers would locate a celebrity's home address and write to them asking for autographs multiple times. The celebrities would grow tired of that and make it a point to sign only one autograph per person. Because of the many autographs a celebrity might sign over time, some check requests against a record of past requests. Boxer George Foreman, for instance, records the names and addresses in his personal computer of every person that writes him asking for an autograph, so that whenever he receives a letter, he will know if the person is a fan who admires him or merely a dealer who wants more of his autographs to sell.

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