Chapter 2
I was excited to see that so many of you
were interested in our
3 year autograph quilt project.
1994-1996
Our daughters rallied to the
idea and as names and people continued
to come to light,
they would send out more requests.
Collecting autographs of celebrities
isn't any thing new.
There are many popular categories.
Presidents
George Bush
Military
General Norman Schwarzkoph
General Colin Powell
4 Star General, Politician, Diplomat
Athletes
Larry Bird
Basketball player
Billy Jean King
tennis player
Movie Stars
Television Stars
Carol Burnett
American Children's TV show 1955 - 1984
Artists
Architect and Sculptor
designed the Vietnam War Memorial
Social and Religious Leaders
spokeswoman for the feminist movement
Jesse L. Jackson
American Civil Rights Activist
Scientists
Dr. Gertrude Elion
American Biochemist, Noble Prize 1988 in Medicine
Carl Sagan
Astronomer
Politicians
Ted Kennedy
Sandra Day O'Connor
Supreme Court Justice, 1981 -2006
Astronauts
John Glenn
Sally Ride
First Woman to fly in space
Vocalists
Aretha Franklin
Authors
Children's Authors
Author and Humorist
Influential Women
Julia Child
Ruth Baden Ginsburg
Supreme Court Justice 1993 -2020
American Fashion Designer and Business Woman
Local celebrities
Thomas Sutherland, Dean of Agriculture at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, was kidnapped by Islamic Jihad members near his Beirut home on June 9, 1985. He was released on November 18, 1991 at the same time as Terry Waite, having been held hostage for 2,353 days.
Anne Dal Vera
Explorer
1992 lead the first all female team to cross Antarctica to the South Pole
without dogs or motorized vehicles
*****
One of the big questions is:
Are these signatures authentic?
There is actually no way of knowing
for sure other than if we had seen them
being signed in person.
Many celebrities use a rubber stamp.
Julie Andrews
Actress and Singer
Maya Angelou
American Poet
Clint Black
American Singer-Songwriter, Country music
Another means of signing a person's name
is with an autopen which is a robotic machine.
First woman to hold Secretary of Commerce, cabinet position
under President Carter, an American Economist
Some celebrities authorize secretaries to sign
or another trusted person.
Big Bird
Bugs Bunny
And many sign with a few simple strokes.
Jay Leno
Comedian/ Late Night Talk Show Host
On a few occasions the person from whom
we requested an autograph signed the
backing paper rather than the fabric.
In that case, and in a couple other situations,
the signature was copied
onto a heat transfer paper
and applied to the fabric.
My thoughts were that we weren't selling
the signatures or the quilt. The project
was for our own personal use and I believed it was okay
for that to be done.
One signature that I wanted to include was
Mother Theresa's. She had sent her name on
a card and I wanted to include her name, of course,
because her very important contributions.
She died a year after we finished collecting.
Who didn't sign
We had many rejects.
For some we were never able to
find a reliable mailing address. Some
of them were returned as undeliverable
and others,
I believe, were simply disposed into
someone's circular file.
Many of them were returned with a note
and an explanation as to why someone
was not able to fulfill our request.
Our first denial was from Charles Schultz
and we were very disappointed.
Here are a few other letters that we received.
American Chemist, Biochemist, the importance of Vitamin C
A note from the White House
The reject letters added a wonderful chapter
to our story as well.
So here's the question:
If you could think back to 1994 -1996
who would you have wanted to include in the quilt?
Next time I'll share some great stories
around some of the signatures and then who
were some our favorites.
Here are a couple others
that you were interested in seeing.
Roy Rogers
Singer and Cowboy
Gene Autry
Singer , Cowboy
Hopefully, you'll stay tuned for the rest of the story.
Radio Broadcaster
Famous for "the Rest of the Story"
Until Next Time-
Kyle
Oh, Kyle, this is one of the most interesting projects I have ever seen and I love reading about the journey. I hope most of those signatures are authentic! The reject letters are fascinating too. I will stay tuned for the rest of the story.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful read! I'm glad that you included the rejects as well. I'm waiting for the next post!
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely need the rest of the story! Fascinating group of signatures.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an amazing project! I can’t wait for the next instalment. The reject letters are so interesting as well. Mother Teresa! Wow!
ReplyDeleteOh wow this is even more amazing than I imagined. I know that autographs were really popular around my high school days and earlier, but I am not sure the exact time frame. I remember getting lots of autograph signing books from the library - the kinds that told you what to write with your autograph "roses are red...", "when this you see, remember me", etc. Did you get Tom Hanks or John Travolta? Mariah Carey or Celine Dion?
ReplyDeleteWow, just wow. Scrolling through the names I smiled, awwwwed, gasped, the gamut. Your daughter really got some great signatures, and the rejection letters are very interesting too. Some more gracious than others, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely fantastic and it just gets better and better! I am in awe of this amazing project and the documentation that goes with it. It's such a feel-good quilt and I smiled when reading all the returns (and rejects). I was especially moved to see Tom Sutherland's autograph. Roy Rogers and Gene Autry took me back to my childhood and we listened to Paul Harvey all the time! Can't wait for Part 3 . . .
ReplyDeleteSimply remarkable! What a tremendous contribution to the quilt world and to history in general. I for one could care less if the signatures themselves are real. It is quite obvious that someone in that person's employ or at least in their "inner circle" made sure that it got sent back to Elizabeth and her friends and that means everything to me. I am beyond impressed at the number of people who did send them back. And, I knew my "Roy" and of course Gene wouldn't let you down. I do hope this will go to a museum someday. Such a great quilt!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing collection you have. It is also lovely to see how gracious the refusals were.
ReplyDeleteSuch great memories.
I am absolutely amazed and stunned at the scope of this project. It is incredible.
ReplyDeleteYou have so many American and World Icons it is hard to believe.
It was also interesting to see the rejection letters. This belongs in a museum with all the underlying paperwork.
thanks for sharing
You have some amazing signatures! What a great project.
ReplyDeleteOhmygoodness - what a great group of autographs! Some especially poignant now. Would you consider writing a magazine piece about the project? Quilters would be especially interested, but I'm wondering if a publication like the Smithsonian magazine would be interested as well? Anyway, wonderful project and thank you for sharing "the rest of the story" with us!
ReplyDeleteThis is so incredibly fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI thought we had done a good thing when we encouraged our daughter to write to her favorite author, Marguerite Henry, and she received a personal reply. That was nothing compared to the scale of your project. I am glad you kept your documentation!