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| Rabbi Sally Priesand |
Do kids still collect autographs? I have my doubts; the practice must have been ruined long ago by eBay. Busy celebrities are turned off, assuming that their efforts, rather than being cherished forever, will end up for sale by the next afternoon.
A pity. Because nothing says, "I stood in front of you," quite like an autograph. I probably would never remember meeting Margaret Meade, the giant in anthropology, were it not for her precise signature above the year, 1972 in my little book with "Your Autograph Please" emblazoned on the cover.
The first page, I worked practiced making the request by securing the signature of my elementary school principal, the gloriously-named "J. Earl Neptune." Meaning I was in 6th grade.
After Meade, another autograph I am very glad to have — Lillian Gish, the silent film star. She now seems part of the far distant past. But when I met her, in 1972, the star of "Birth of a Nation" would have been 79.
And if you're wondering how a bowl-haircut boob in Berea Ohio was bumping into several acclaimed women of the 20th century, the answer is that the sandstone capital of the world was also home to Baldwin-Wallace College, now Baldwin-Wallace University. Luminaries would come through to speak. My mother, hoping to expand my horizons, would take me. Thanks ma.
"In 1972, Sally Priesand became the first woman ordained as a rabbi..." the placard begins.
"I was there," I told my wife. Priesand went my synagogue, Beth Israel: The West Temple. I knew I attended her ordination, not because of the book, which did have her autograph. But because of a program, typed and photocopied and folded, that I tucked away after she signed it.
Although. Now that I look into the history, the ceremony I attended was not her actual ordination — that was June 3 at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. This was two weeks later, a "Joint Service to Honor the Ordination of Rabbi Sally Priesand."
Ah well, close enough for baseball.
And kids do still collect autographs, according to Prof. Google. Though the practice is now wedded to Disney World, apparently, where visitors get autographs from the various characters prancing around the park. Those certainly are expensive, if not valuable. On eBay, I see that Sally Priesand signatures are starting at $50. Pretty good, though I'm not selling mine.
Her name rang my bell immediately. Am typing these words a couple miles down the road from the West Temple, where I've lived for the past 33 years. I'm guessing your bar mitzvah was there the following year, Mister S, while I was living in Gainesville, FL.
ReplyDeleteThe congregation bought land in the western suburbs, years ago, but couldn't raise the money to build a new synagogue out there.Still doing business at the same old shul since the Fifties, when many NASA employees joined. Only temple on the West Side of Cleveland. On the other hoof, and the other side of the Cuyahoga River, there are 38
It’s not autographs anymore, it’s selfies.
ReplyDelete“I was wise enough to never grow up while fooling most people into believing I had.”
ReplyDelete- Margaret Mead
What's with today's photo of the motel at Peterson & Ridge?
ReplyDeleteI needed a photo. I took that Monday, on my way home from seeing Edith Renfrow Smith. I always thought the logo was cool.
DeleteMy cherished autograph memory was after the 1955 World Series. Johnny Podres, the series MVP, whose two pitching wins finally brought the Brooklyn Dodgers their first baseball championship, was signing autographs at Robert's, a deli restaurant at the corner of Devon and Western. There was a long line out the door. When it was my turn, I proffered my autograph book at the exact moment when the waitress was serving his eggs. I nearly knocked his breakfast onto his lap. Johnny Podres, World Series hero, gave me a dirty look.
ReplyDeleteAs a child I collected a few relatively notable autographs: Pat Boone, Guy Madison, Victor Borge. Probably the best was pre-glam Liberace, when he was simply an extraordinary concert pianist. And, as I recall, a very nice man who was kind and patient with a young kid. Sadly, I have no idea what happened to that autograph book. Probably discarded by an indifferent teenage me. Something of a loss.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like autograph books are gone these days, but the autographs themselves are collected in a different format. Prince William's kids recently asked the Mens' Wimbledon winner, Jannik Sinner, to sign tennis balls for them. They also asked him to sign one for their absent younger brother, Louis.
ReplyDeleteive always felt asking someone I admired for their auto graph was a somewhat rude imposition. though i have a few , one that I bought , some that came inside packs of baseball cards I bought for my sons when they were young. and a signed first addition of slaughter house five that was gifted to me. my fave is a Fergie Jenkins ball.
ReplyDeletethe expression is close enough for horse shoes. or inside baseball which the glen close stuff is an example of
"Government Work" is the way I heard it.
Deletejohn
Yes good enough for government work is what we always said in the trades
DeleteAs a child, my parents used to help me with my autograph collection on their trips to Las Vegas in the 1960s. I have Tom Jones (my mom and aunt were crazy about him) and Don Rickles. Also Jerry Lewis, who apparently wasn't the nicest guy. My kids got a kick out of this, although they weren't sure who these people were. The lack of curiosity of a lot of young people surprises me. I knew actors and singers from the 30s and 40s even though I was not around at the time. But I guess I was a little, trying to think of a good word, guess I'll go with nerdy
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1947. So I was well aware when I was bit older I was well aware of actors and singers of the 30's and 40's. Even silent movie stars. I am sure my sons don't know many of the singers and actors from the 60's and 70's
DeleteI'd have to agree that selfies are the modern equivalent of autographs, but in many ways selfies can be better: you have a visual record of you with the celebrity (and can make up all kinds of stories to go with it), they won't have that nagging thought that you just want their autograph in order to sell it, and no one has to scramble around to find a writing utensil and something to sign.
ReplyDeleteI never had the urge to collect autographs, though back around 1975, the teenage me was attending the annual World of Wheels custom car show at McCormick Place, and signing autographs there, for no apparent reason, was Jesse Owens, the track and field legend. I remember he was on some kind of elevated platform, handing down autographed photos to the people below, but when my turn came, on a whim, I asked him to sign the cast on my broken right arm instead.
He graciously agreed, but couldn't reach it from his location, so he got up and waved me around to the back of the platform, where I could place my arm cast through a gap in the framework, and he very slowly and patiently signed it with a Sharpie. I think my volleyball injury resonated with his athletic background, and he spent a few minutes in conversation with me. Very nice gentleman.
I know they say that you should never meet your heroes, but fortunately that's not always true.
My father played a lot of golf after retiring, and he was somehow able to get Joe DiMaggio's autograph in the clubhouse one day. Still have it. Don't know how he did it. DiMaggio was a very guarded and private person, and Joe normally didn't sign for any ordinary joe. Charged big bucks for signatures at baseball card shows. Probably did it so my obnoxious old man would leave him alone.
ReplyDeleteWas never into autographs, except for a few years in my early teens, when I would get the visiting NL teams to sign my scorecards after Cub games. That was in the early Sixties, during the days of Wine and Rojas, when they played for the Phillies. And after a July 4th doubleheader with the Mets, I obtained the autographs of Casey Stengel and Jimmy PIersall, side-by-side.
Then came the Great Collapse of '69. Had my own meltdown, and foolishly burned all my Cub stuff, including every scorecard. Swore I was done with them forever. Yeah, right. Was already addicted for life. Just didn't know it yet
When I was a kid in the late 50s, celebrity fan clubs were all the rage. After sending a request letter by mail and waiting for days or weeks, almost every time, an envelope would show up. Sometimes it would contain an original autograph, but more often a photograph with a reproduction signature. But the ones that I treasured the most were obtained in person from A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Duncan Renaldo (Cisco Kid). I still get a kick out of that collection when I remember where I put it.
ReplyDeleteI've never collected autographs in a book, but I do have some signed books. Most recently Christopher Moore signed my favorite of his novels, "Fluke." I have a first edition of "The Right Stuff," signed by John Glenn and Chuck Yeager but not Tom Wolfe!
ReplyDelete