The Curious Case of Jimmie Foxx

[cjraleigh]

While vintage, this is not card related...unless postcards count.

Foxx autos are not rare, but I thought this was pretty unique.

1. He signed the back of a Charles Comiskey HOF Postcard.

2. PSA incorrectly labeled it as an Artvue Type 1, although it is an Albertype Tyoe 1 from 1944. They are the only ones that abbreviate NY in Cooperstown, NY as opposed to spelling out the word New York. That and the line of text runnning up to the postmark clearly says Albertype.

3. PSA deems the salutation "Greeting, from Cooperstown" and the addressee's info to be in an unkown hand (not Foxx's).

4. The postmark shows it was mailed from Cooperstown on Jul, 24, 1951. Foxx and Ott were inducted Jul 23, 1951, but Foxx and Connie Mack were the only HOF attendees that year.

This is fascinating to me. Who wrote the salutation and addressee info? The addressee himself? Foxx's assistant (if he had one?). His brother Sam (who was known to occasionally sign for him)? Why use Comiskey's card? Was it just what was available at the time? All other inductees up to that point would have had their own card. Gehringer was the last inductee before him in '49. and research shows that the HOF gift shop did not typically have the current year's induction class in stock until after the fact.

We know Foxx was inducted the day before and was in Cooperstown. Could this be one of his earliest signed HOF postcards..even if it wasn't his own?

Anyway, I've been looking to add a Foxx auto for a few years know, so am very happy to add one with a cool narrative.

As for PSA's mislabel...is it worth sending in to reholder it with the correct description?

[towerymt]

That is cool!

I'm curious to hear what others think, but the logic seems sound.

The greeting + address look to be the same pen / handwriting. At that time if you had to pick a generic, hall of fame non-player, and fill out a bunch of those in your own handwriting, then get them signed by anyone you could find at the ceremony, then mail it to yourself....seems like that could be an approach to early autograph collecting.

As for the re-holder, you might want to wait. PSA should fix that label for free, so since they just announced a new holder coming out for standard size cards, you might want to wait until they've expanded that new holder to this size. Could take a while...but no harm in keeping this one as-is for a while if you plan to keep it in your collection.

[cjraleigh]

Originally Posted by towerymt

That is cool!

I'm curious to hear what others think, but the logic seems sound.

The greeting + address look to be the same pen / handwriting. At that time if you had to pick a generic, hall of fame non-player, and fill out a bunch of those in your own handwriting, then get them signed by anyone you could find at the ceremony, then mail it to yourself....seems like that could be an approach to early autograph collecting.

As for the re-holder, you might want to wait. PSA should fix that label for free, so since they just announced a new holder coming out for standard size cards, you might want to wait until they've expanded that new holder to this size. Could take a while...but no harm in keeping this one as-is for a while if you plan to keep it in your collection.

Thanks for the heads up on PSA. Would be great if they reholdered it for free...even in the current slab type.

I agree that it was likely the fan/collector who filled this out before getting Foxx to sign. As mentioned, only 2 inductees attended the 1951 ceremony, so Foxx and Mack must have both been in high demand by default.

[towerymt]

They will absolutely re-holder for no charge if the label is wrong. Even if you didn't submit the card originally. I've used this a few times. PSA will provide a shipping label, re-holder the card, and ship it back, all for no cost. You will need to submit an order online and part of that process requires a credit card, but they do no charge anything for this service. Took around 1 month door to door when I've done it in the past.

https://www.psacard.com/myaccount/customerrequestcenter

Label Correction Request

Label Correction Request
Is your card, ticket or pack labeled incorrectly?

Label errors typically include incorrect year, spelling errors, or wrong variation. If you believe you have a mislabeled PSA-graded card, ticket or pack please fill out the requested information below to file a report.

Describe what is wrong with the label on your items using the description box and upload front and back images of each mislabeled item.

Your request will be reviewed, and a PSA-CRC representative will contact you with our findings.

Note: PSA may have begun to recognize a variation after the item was graded, and may not be eiligible for a free correction.

[cjraleigh]

Originally Posted by towerymt

They will absolutely re-holder for no charge if the label is wrong...

Awesome, thank you!

[cjraleigh]

Originally Posted by towerymt

They will absolutely re-holder for no charge if the label is wrong. Even if you didn't submit the card originally. I've used this a few times. PSA will provide a shipping label, re-holder the card, and ship it back, all for no cost. You will need to submit an order online and part of that process requires a credit card, but they do no charge anything for this service. Took around 1 month door to door when I've done it in the past.

Thanks again for the great advice. It took 3+ months, but they finally reholdered it for no charge. I'm also glad they used the same red label as before.