NBA Autographs Original

An autograph is a document written entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one transcribed by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph. more...

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As the word is used by non-historians, it has come to mean a person's signature. This term is used in particular for the practice of collecting autographs of celebrities. The collection of autographs is also known as philography.

Customs

In East Asia, an autograph from famous gentry is regarded as an honour. The value of an item bearing a high official's autograph could rise incredibly. In imperial China, an autograph from an emperor was priceless but selling an item bearing it could be a criminal offense.

In Europe and North America, asking for a celebrity's autograph used to be seen as a child's activity up to only a few decades ago. The boom of collecting autographs as a hobby came during the 1980s, and, as a consequence, many memorabilia dealers took notice, and what used to be an innocent hobby lost that innocence as both dealers and celebrities began to charge money for their signatures (especially on personal checks).

That practice, however, changes from country to country and in some, charging for autographs could be considered mercenary.

Charging for autographs

It should be noted that many celebrities still enjoy signing autographs for free for the fans, keeping it a very interesting hobby to this day. Hilary Duff has gone as far as publicly lashing out at some of her fellow teen idol stars who avoid autograph collectors. Art Carney was another person who enjoyed signing autographs, until his passing in November of 2003.

Many people however, are not willing to distribute their signature—at least not for free. Sports personalities include most baseball players, such as the majority of the New York Yankees, the late Joe Dimaggio, and most notoriously, Barry Bonds. Other sports stars that try to avoid signing whenever possible are Bill Russell, who does not sign at all, and most NBA stars with huge contracts. The legendary Michael Jordan, would not and could not sign for most of his career because people were putting each other's safety at risk by scrambling to get the icon's autograph that is worth at least hundreds of dollars. Jordan however, has frequently signed at the more peaceful environments, such as golf tournaments. It is also a scramble to get Michael Jackson's autograph. A typical scenario is hundreds of fans in a crush waiting by Jackson's hotel, and Jackson signing five or ten autographs in the midst of rushing to his vehicle.

Forgeries

During the 1990s, many people started forging celebrity autographs and selling them as real, necessitating the involvement of the FBI. This enraged some celebrities, who would just stop signing autographs for everyone or sign exclusive deals for companies to distribute their autographs, to make sure everyone who got an autograph by paying for it was getting a real autograph and not a fake one.

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