Autograph Collecting

In the previous posts, I have discussed two type of “collecting” hobbies; philately and pullimeny. An autograph collecting is also a collecting type of hobby, liked and loved by a lot of people of all ages. The sight of a celebrity makes one look for a pen and a paper to have the celebrity autographed. That is another thing that giving autographs can be fatal too as in case of the legendry singer John Lennon who was shot seconds after he gave his autograph to his would be assassin.

My love in autographs was associated as one of my elder brother in our school and college days thought of collecting autographs of the then famous people. As we did not have direct access to the celebrities and leaders of the time, we thought of writing letter to them requesting for autographs. And in doing so, we got the autographs of the then president Muhammad Ayub Khan (who would sign M A Khan), President Nixon of the USA (which came through the US Embassy in Pakistan), and many cricketers and hockey players of the time.

One day my elder brother was standing near the Lahore Museum while studying in the Government College and there he found Sadequain, the famous muralist and calligrapher, strolling outside the museum. In those days Sadequain was working on a roof of the museum ornamenting it with great artistic taste. My brother that day did not carry a pen or a paper, as it happens more often than not that one has a celebrity standing so close but no means to get his autographs. So he ran to the Anarkali paper market, bought a pen and a drawing sheet and asked for Sadequain’s autograph. When Sadequain knew of my brother’s interest in art, he invited him inside the museum and showed him his masterpieces. From then on my brother, later joined by another brother of mine, was part of Sadequain’s team to assist him in completing his paintings. I also got to sit with brothers and watch Sadequain at work and was lucky to have his autograph as shown above. I will write about more about days with Sadequain some other time.

Autographs can be taken on anything that is readily available. Beside proper autograph books, nay paper, book, record jacket, post card or even tennis balls are used for autographs. We often see tennis fans getting autographs of tennis stars on big tennis balls. Same goes for autographs on cricket bats and footballs.

Autographs are a reflection of a person’s personality, his level of education, passions, and dominance or otherwise, taste artistic qualities and much more. Those who have a flare for handwriting analysis can easily decipher celebrities’ hidden talents by mere looking at their autographs. Thus autograph collecting is fun, treasure and education.

Related Reading: Autograph (Wikipedia)