Came across this and believe signature to be that of Richard E. Byrd. Haven't seen one before with his signature. Examples on the locked thread appear to match. Has anyone seen one of these before with his signature? Was there an event where he was known to sign these?
Looks genuine to me. Ignore the underline – he did not do that most of the time. A good test is to (usually) compare with signed checks, and this is a match to those.
As for where/when this was signed, we can't know. He was likely invited to the first day ceremony for the stamp, but like for celebrities today, his address could be found and items would be sent to him for an autograph.
Thank you for your response. I've been searching online trying to find something which might include names of any attendees at the first day ceremony without success. Even if he did attend I wouldn't be able to connect this piece to that event. Interesting item regardless of whether he actually reached the North Pole or only came close.
Byrd did all sorts of public appearances in 1930-1932 (look for philatelic "Byrd visit" covers on ebay), so it makes sense that he was also readily available after the souvenir sheet was issued, whether he was present on the first day or not. I see no way to prove the date of the signing.
From what I have seen Byrd was an easy autograph to get and his autographs seem to be plentiful. Unless he dated his autograph as part of his autograph there is no way to tell when he signed something - it could have been "the day of" but more than likely was at some later date either in the following weeks for even in the following years. I think it makes a nice addition to a souvenir sheet or cover but I am not sure I would ascribe much additional value. On the other hand, a signed cover that he actually flew in one of his two record making flights, or a letter with historical content that he actually hand wrote himself and mailed while he was on one of his Antarctic expeditions would be an entirely different story.
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Posted 04/20/2021 09:10 am
