Header - Baseball by the Letters

San Francisco Giants

Collecting Autographed Team Letterhead

by

Is there any alternative to baseballs when collecting groups or themes of autographs on one piece?

I think it can be done by mail. The low cost might surprise you.

One of the best bargains remaining in sports memorabilia is team letterhead. Keep looking, and you’ll find unused sheets of stationery.

Or, consider photoshopping a vintage logo onto card stock. Especially when the return address lists a bygone ballpark! Your wall would thank you for adding such a framed piece.

One possible source for help is Sports Artifacts. While the inventory varies (lots of sales!), Kevin Johnson does find gems regularly. He shared an example of a Giants response to a job applicant. Kevin wrote:

“Yes, people collect letterheads to get great examples of team logos, usually highly detailed and in color.

I  recently purchased an autograph collection from a collector who kept all the original return envelopes, many with great football, baseball and basketball team logos on the envelope. This helped him authenticate the autographs when he sold them.

When the team returns a player’s photo with a stamped signature and a letter along with the team logo envelope instead of returning the signed requested items, these items kept together will have collectible value in the future in my opinion.”
Kevin said he’d be happy to answer reader questions. Contact him at Kevin@SportsArtifacts.com.

Once, Owners Wrote Back to Fans

by

I troll the Internet monthly, looking to see who else has valued baseball letters. Not in a price guide sense, but in the historic treasures the notes uncover.

I found one — a baseball correspondence gem first shared in San Francisco, reflecting on the team’s World Series glory. An East Coast girl named Mary Jean Guidette told of trying to write to then-owner Horace Stoneham, hoping for an explanation, or even a reversal, of the team’s exodus from New York to San Francisco. Thirteen years after writing, Stoneham tried to make amends for his decision with a second reply to the fan. She shared her memory 56 years later.

Are the owners still paying attention today?