OTish: The holy grail of my Michigan Memorabilia collection
Just got this today after I had it shipped next day air. Just too valuable to trust going through the regular mail.
A letter dated May 2, 1940 from Fielding H. Yost and his office of the athletic director. HAND SIGNED, JSA certified with serial number.
Had my eye on this for many years on ebay in my watchlist.
I have to keep walking back into my M room and look at it to believe it's real. Anything signed by Yost is in the 4 figure price range usually. I managed to get for 3 figures through some negotiating. I have seen 3 including this one for sale eBay in my decade plus of searching for memorabilia.
Just thought I'd share this.
WD - you earn your name daily. That is a cool collection.
Got a lot more. We got a 2 bedroom place so I could have a memorabilia room.
Work in progress and there is a lot more space than where I previously lived. The helmet and Jug are gonna be moved onto tables when I get them from IKEA in the mail soon and there will be autographed 8x10x across the entire top.
Weird, but for some reason this song just came to mind:
Seriously though, I'm envious of your collection of memorabilia. I have maybe 1/10th that much, mostly things I've acquired along the way in the 44 years as a season ticket holder, including gifts I've received such as a photo of Bo and Rick Leach autographed by Bo (yes, have authentication certificate for it). Would love to someday get Leach's autograph on it!
I recently catalogued all my ticket stubs--- while I only have about half of them from '77 thru '79, I have at least 95% of them from 1980 to the present. My earliest one is from '75, price of $7.00 printed on the ticket.
I’ve got 2 copies of the original “HAIL, YES” front page from the Freep. I looked all over town the day that paper came out and found them in a newspaper vending machine late that night.
Really cool, WD. Here's a mission for you if you don't already know the answer. Who typed it? It looks like it was typed by somebody with the initials 'asb'?
Bottom left hand corner: FHY/asb. Yost dictated it, 'asb' typed it.
Best I could tell from the image, it's 'asb'
This is really cool, and when your kids are ready for college, you can sell this to help them.
pretty cool WD. thanks for sharing.
Is that a sprinkler near by? Make sure your photos and letter have a waterproof frame.
good get
Came by to say this.
Me three. Saw that and though "ouch!"
"Oh, uh, it's one of those 18th century wet rugs."
Already taken care of. I used to have Maize and Blue frames but replaced them and everything is in a format frame now that's waterproof.
Good stuff. I learned the hard WD. My dad purchased a DH signed ball from the rose bowl, and like an idiot (I was 10), left in front of my window. His autograph faded...
I went to a Tiger game in 1977 and got my ball autographed by a couple promising rookies. Trammell's autograph is about 95% faded and Whitaker's is 100% faded. The ball has been in a dark drawer for all these years and still faded. I also have Fidrych on there, Lance Parrish and a few others. If any of you older folks remember the mediocre reliever Fernando Arroyo, his autograph is still on there as bold as ever - go figure!
April 19th, 2020 at 11:50 AM ^
I 'memba
Renters insurance too!
Looks good, WD
I guess we know where your stimulus check went...
Do you also have the two items Yost had sent along with the letter?
Good idea, Dr. Detroit, not sure why you got downvoted.
Have you looked into trying to find both or either of the booklets Yost mentioned in his letter, WD? Getting originals of those would really be a crowning touch to obtaining this letter, even if they weren't the actual individual booklets that were sent by Yost.
Nice WD. Appreciate your enthusiasm.
Nice get...make sure you have insurance where you live that will cover the value of your memorabilia. It may or may not be covered by a standard homeowner/renter policy.
It almost certainly isn't covered under a standard homeowner contents policy. You will likely need an appdraisal and a rider on your policy. Worth every penny though
I’m curious what is it that makes this the holy grail?
Is it the hand signing alone or is there something else about this letter that makes it particularly rare or enticing.
He did say it was HIS holy grail of Michigan memorabilia, not THE holy grail of Michigan memorabilia
April 18th, 2020 at 10:16 PM ^
I saw that and my question stands. I’m not a collector so I’m curious what makes this item special for a collector. Are things signed by Yost very rare and he’s been searching for one for years? Maybe it’s the content of the letter? Maybe there’s something else that I can’t possibly think of because I’m not a collector.
April 19th, 2020 at 12:16 AM ^
Well, it's not just an autograph on a picture or an index card. It's a letter from the office of the AD that he wrote himself and signed.
Big admirer of Yost's. He is essentially the father of Michigan Football and as an AD he made Michigan the top athletic department in the country.
That's sweet, I especially like the black and white photos
The only Michigan stuff I have is my diploma and one flag in my man cave, which as stated before, is just a shed right now. But I do have plans to make it super sweet... I need at least one cool framed Michigan photo like that for when I do finish it.
I like the "Ken Burns for Michigan fan" touch.
Very cool! Congrats!
Congrats, WD! That's quite the find and a nice acquisition! But like Bluetotheday said, make sure its protected from the elements. That paper is 80 years old - keep it dry and out of direct sunlight (or any UV source). I'd recommend learning up on how to protect such documents...
The vinyl interlayer of laminated glass filters 99% of UV rays.
I'm not trying to one-up you (well, maybe a little bit), but I thought this would be a good place to share some of my collection. I have the signature of every M football coach since 1900 except one- my White Whale- George Little (coach for one year, in 1924). Here are some photos (hopefully I do this right):
I'd toss the ones from those who coached 2008-2014. /s
How can you have this and 14 MGoPoints? Does not compute.
I pretty much just lurk and check the board a few times a week. When things are normal, I spend my spare time coaching my two kids playing travel hockey, which has me in rinks 6-7 days/week. I have a little more time on my hands these days.
The Kipke one is my favorite ("This is the best I can do for you Jim"). It teases the imagination what that accompanied the letter. A fruitcake? A game-worn sock? An origami condom? (Pretty much has to be one of those three options.)
Good get for WD, too.
This is fantastic, thanks for sharing. Haven't seen Kipke or Wieman signed pieces out there for sale yet. Eyeing a signed index card of Crisler next.
Wieman is a really tough one, too. I’ve only come across 2 signed pieces over the past 15 years and they were both on the book that he co-wrote with Crisler back in 1934, entitled “Practical Football.”
How often do you talk to your insurance broker?
Very nice!
I have a pretty extensive collection as well. My three favorite pieces: Game used ball from the 1989 Rose Bowl (obtained from an estate), game used / signed jersey from a starter in the 2011 UM vs ND game, and a 1948 program signed by the entire team and coaching staff.
The authentication process is interesting.
Really nice collections guys! There's something about an old autograph that gives me the chills like the Carpe Diem scene in Dead Poets Society; a connection to the past.
I've always thought Ann Arbor needed a Hall of Fame Cafe like MSU has in Lansing. Went there a few times when my Sister was at State and enjoyed the displays even though it was for the other side.
My personal white whale item is a Tom Harmon autographed magazine with him on the cover, either Time or Life. There is a photo of one on ebay, but I've never seen an original.
Very, very cool!
-1 point for being an attention whore
-1 point to me for being super jealous
Very nice, it’s always cool to see these pieces from the program’s history. Not too long ago I got a signed copy of Yost’s book “Football for Player and Spectator”, which is also quite an interesting book to flip through. I took a chance since it wasn’t authenticated at the time, but have since had it authenticated.
April 18th, 2020 at 10:32 PM ^
This is super cool. I love these football books from the first half of the 1900’s. At the time, the things Yost and Crisler were doing were revolutionary in their respective eras. This is a great piece of memorabilia!
April 18th, 2020 at 10:20 PM ^
Great piece. Please get it out of that cheap frame and get it professionally done with UV glass and acid free matting or you will regret it down the line.
April 18th, 2020 at 10:30 PM ^
Agree, and/or get it slabbed to provide additional protection.
April 19th, 2020 at 10:37 AM ^
This is the right answer. Crescent reg mats and Museum glass to really appreciate and protect it. WD is in Ann Arbor. Randy Parrish is the best shop in town and is a good guy.
www.parrishframing.com