Secretarial Signatures Of Hoover And Ike

Letters bearing the signatures of secretaries signed on behalf of Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower have recently sold for big money of an internet auction site. The Hoover letter sold for over $100 and the Ike letter sold for over $180. There is also another Hoover letter currently offered at a fixed price. It features the same secretary. In addition, I saw a website that seeks to "educate" collectors on the autographs of major figures in World War II, and the entry for Eisenhower is a sample of his secretary's hand! How ironic ... and unfortunate. I e-mailed three out of the four people (I never got to e-mailing the seller of the Ike letter) to tell them the signatures are fake, and not one responded back to me. Big surprise.

Be very careful when purchasing Presidential Autographs. Some secretaries were very, very good at replicating their bosses. Some are near impossible to differentiate while others are quite easy to identify. Hoover and Ike are among the easiest ones to pick out. Examples are available for your reference online.

George Washington's Birthday Today!

It is back to the birthdays on this blog. February 22 is the day of birth (on the Gregorian Calendar as opposed to the Julian Calendar used at the time) for General and first U.S. President George Washington. This is not to be confused with the crummy, watered-down version of Washington's Birthday included with all of the other Presidents (aka President's Day). In any event, here is a very nice postcard from circa 1909 to 1912 celebrating the day!

William Henry Harrison - Born On This Day In 1773

Four American Presidents were born in the month of February. Three of them (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan) enjoy great popularity today while one of them is largely known only by name ... if that. William Henry Harrison, of the Whig Party, was born on February 9, 1773. There are plenty of books and websites should anyone wish to research Harrison so I will only list three facts about him: 1.) He is known for having the shortest stay in the White House, a mere thirty-two days, 2.) He is known for being the only Grandfather of a President (his Grandson was Benjamin Harrison) and 3.) He had the great misfortune of living to see six out of his nine children pass away.

By the way, although the U.S. Mint's website currently does not have a release date for the William Harrison One Dollar Coin, it will certainly be in bank vaults this month. One online source references a date of February 19, 2009.

Below are some artifacts pertaining to and relating to William Henry Harrison.

Here are four Presidential Campaign Tokens from his successful "Log Cabin" Campaign of 1840 (note his nickname Tippecanoe on one of them as well as the overall variations):

Obverse (two views)

Reverse (two views)

A letter from March 18, 1887, signed by his Grandson, Benjamin, that makes reference to William as "Grand-father".

Close-up of the text:

He did not wear a Wig ... he WAS a Whig! Happy Birthday to William Henry Harrison!!!