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Author
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Topic: 110792711613: Armstrong-signed yearbook
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Dougin SoCA
Member Posts: 111
From: Aliso Viejo, Ca, USA
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 12-11-2011 04:24 PM
   
I was cruising eBay, and found a photograph of what is supposed to be a Neil Armstrong high school yearbook which he signed. It might be something to add to people's reference library of good signatures. It is certainly different (yet similar in some ways) from what you normally see in his adult autographs.  |
Dougin SoCA
Member Posts: 111
From: Aliso Viejo, Ca, USA
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 12-11-2011 04:25 PM
This is weird, I found another eBay auction of one of his signed high school yearbooks (opening bid half the price of the one above). |
Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 12-11-2011 11:11 PM
I am no expert but they sure seem fake. Can't imagine why anyone would "sign their name" in block lettering? The HS yearbook is worth something but that "autograph" isn't. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 12-12-2011 01:44 AM
Looking at the autographs in context it's worth noting that the other signatures on the pages around these are consistent in both books.If the Armstrongs are forgeries then either the others in the book are genuine but Armstrong never signed these copies and a forger has added his signature in this style in both copies of the yearbook, or all the signatures are forged together. The latter seems unlikely since the other signatures look quite 'normal'. If a forger was going to create all these other forgery styles why not make Armstrong's more traditional-looking? These may well be crude forgeries, but I can't help wonder if there's a possibility that they're actually 'crude' early signatures. Even if that's the case they're more curiosities than valuable items. |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 12-12-2011 09:35 AM
They're certainly valuable to HS yearbook and teen Neil Armstrong aficionados!
Sure is weird to see two of these on eBay at the same time, but for what it's worth, I don't think these are forgeries; I've seen other very early Armstrong "block-lettered" signatures and these are entirely consistent with those. (I think a more realistic sale-point price for these yearbooks would be in the sub-$2000 range however). |
Dougin SoCA
Member Posts: 111
From: Aliso Viejo, Ca, USA
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 12-12-2011 05:42 PM
How many of our high school signatures would look just like our adult ones 20 so year later? As I mentioned, you can see some aspects of the later signature, but definitely different. I agree to go to the trouble and considerable efforts to sign all of the other signatures (and we are only seeing probably a part of what's in the whole book) makes me lean toward possibly real. I wonder if his home town, old school, or something sort of national museum has a copy to compare it to? |
mikej
Member Posts: 481
From: Germantown, WI USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 12-12-2011 06:12 PM
As another data point, Neil Armstrong Air & Space has an autographed yearbook. |
jerseyboy
Member Posts: 49
From: Overland Park, Kansas U.S.A.
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted 12-12-2011 07:11 PM
I purchased a signed Neil Armstrong yearbook about 11 years ago from Todd Mueller Autographs in Texas.  I went to the Neil Armstrong Museum in Wapakonta, Ohio in 2003, they had a signed Neil Armstrong yearbook under glass and I snapped a photo of it. This is that yearbook from the museum.  It looked like the same pen was used for both signatures. Even where he started his signature was in the same place. I asked Mueller how he obtained the book and he said that someone contacted everyone in Neil's graduating class and asked them if they wanted to sell their yearbooks. Out of all the people contacted, two people sold them, one was signed and one was not. |
apollo11lem5
Member Posts: 528
From: Seminole, Florida, United States
Registered: May 2000
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posted 12-12-2011 09:35 PM
These signatures of Neil are real and while I do not have one, I have seen a few of them. They are consistently the same. I particularly like the caption in the yearbook. It is prophetic of Neil throughout his adult life, "He Thinks, He Acts, Tis' Done"! Someone got it exactly right many years ago! |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 12-12-2011 10:07 PM
quote:
Originally posted by apollo11lem5:
These signatures of Neil are real and while I do not have one, I have seen a few of them. They are consistently the same.
I agree completely. This was Neil's signature style at the time. And all of the examples I've seen (from different sources) show the same style...and the same styles for the surrounding signatures. |
thump
Member Posts: 575
From: washington dc usa
Registered: May 2004
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posted 12-15-2011 08:02 AM
Doesn't this signature also match or look similar to Neil's customs form that was recently stolen? |
Steve Zarelli
Member Posts: 731
From: Upstate New York, USA
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 12-15-2011 12:44 PM
Other considerations are provenance and appropriate aging. These signatures must be 64 years old and show appropriate aging. Laying fresh ink on that paper now and having it look natural would likely be very difficult. |
thump
Member Posts: 575
From: washington dc usa
Registered: May 2004
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posted 12-15-2011 01:29 PM
Now that Robert has added the link, guess I was wrong on the customs form, nowhere close. My memory is not what it used to be... |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 12-15-2011 01:40 PM
quote:
Originally posted by thump:
Doesn't this signature also match or look similar to Neil's customs form that was recently stolen?
Not really, but I'm not sure what you mean. Look at the "N" -- it's a backwards capital N on the custom form but is non-reversed in the yearbook examples. |
MikeSpace
unregistered
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posted 12-15-2011 07:13 PM
My guess is one or more of those is a secretarial signature. [rimshot]Thank you, I'm here all week... |
Wehaveliftoff
Member Posts: 2343
From:
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 12-15-2011 07:17 PM
Who here still signs the same as in school? I'm no where close, in signing, nor appearance. |
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