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Author Topic:   Alan Shepard secretarial autograph traits
spacesurgeon
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Posts: 15
From: G.B.
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 05-05-2005 08:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spacesurgeon   Click Here to Email spacesurgeon     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There have been various Alan Shepard autographs that have been identified as having been signed by his secretaries ("secretarials").

Could anybody please help by offering some guidance as to the characteristics of an Alan Shepard secretarial? What should I look for?

micropooz
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Posts: 1545
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 11-08-2007 04:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for micropooz   Click Here to Email micropooz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
General rules-of-thumb for spotting Shepard secretarials:
  1. Shepard connected the "S" and the "h" with a banana shaped line that swept upward. On secretarials this line is still banana-shaped but more parallel to the base of the autograph.

  2. In some cases the secretarial "A" in Alan is smaller than the "l". Shepard usually made his "A's" the same size or larger than the "l's".

  3. In secretarials, the "d" at the end of Shepard has a small loop at the end. Shepard's "d's" usually dropped straight down at the end.

  4. With inscriptions, the secretary tended to put a colon after "To" whereas Shepard was not known to do that.
There are some others, but I have found these to be the most definitive.

This was published in the March/April 1995 "Space Autograph News" by Mike Johnson.

gliderpilotuk
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Posts: 3401
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 11-09-2007 10:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for gliderpilotuk   Click Here to Email gliderpilotuk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's probably more fruitful to focus on what a good Shepard autograph looks like (eliminating of course, the quirky scrawls on some of his book signatures).

spaced out
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Posts: 3123
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 11-16-2007 12:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaced out   Click Here to Email spaced out     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I've put together a guide to identifying Shepard secretarials. It may not cover all known tells but it's a start. Any input would be welcome of course.

You can find the guide on Shepard's page of my AstroAutopens guide.

Scott
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Posts: 3307
From: Houston, TX
Registered: May 2001

posted 11-16-2007 01:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott   Click Here to Email Scott     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks so much for doing this Alan Shepard secretarial guide, Chris. It is excellent!

mjanovec
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Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005

posted 11-16-2007 01:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mjanovec   Click Here to Email mjanovec     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Let me echo Scott's praise here. Great guide! Your autopen pages were already my default place to look for patterns. Now you have the best Shepard secretarial guide too. Keep up the great work!

lm5eagle
Member

Posts: 429
From:
Registered: Jul 2007

posted 11-17-2007 11:14 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for lm5eagle   Click Here to Email lm5eagle     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Chris, your guide is truly worthy of the plaudits expressed in the previous two posts. I endorse those comments wholeheartedly and offer my many thanks.

capoetc
Member

Posts: 2212
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 11-17-2007 12:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for capoetc   Click Here to Email capoetc     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Very nice site! Some of the secretaries did a pretty good job, too...

spaced out
Member

Posts: 3123
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 10-15-2015 09:47 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaced out   Click Here to Email spaced out     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just a little anecdote on the subject of Shepard 'secretarials'...

I was in touch recently with someone whose father worked at NASA as an intern in the astronaut office at the time of the Mercury program. One of his tasks as an intern was signing material for Alan Shepard, and reportedly he became pretty good at it.

Apparently one time Shepard came up behind him while he was doing this job and said, "Where the hell'd ya pick that up?" After which they had a good laugh.

It's funny to think this intern was responsible for at least one of the style of Shepard signature out there.

Dirk
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Posts: 961
From: Belgium
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 08-20-2020 05:03 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dirk   Click Here to Email Dirk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have signed Alan Shepard, presuming secretarial signed. I have put the photo in a Facebook group and got this interesting answer from Millie McElya:
I will comment. As secretary for the 7 Mercury astronauts at the Cape my main job in the beginning was to answer letters and request for signatures. I will say I never signed any astronaut name. I answered letters and put a photo with every letter so when an astronaut came to Cape, he personally signed each photo. I even have photos of them sitting at my desk doing that.

After Mercury I transferred to Houston NASA headquarters and later to Ellington AFB when the new 9 astronauts and then later on sight at new manned Spacecraft Center when the Apollo guys came onboard. I moved up as Shepard’s Secretary when he became Chief. At that time we set up a “mailroom“ with several ladies who took care of answering letters.

I am 82 now but as I remembers we had autograph stamps. Not sure when autopen came up. I never had Shepard ask me to sign his name. Guess all of that happened after I married in June 1965 and later left NASA.

All times are CT (US)

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