Rare First National Bank check, 7.5 x 3, filled out and signed by Williams, “Hank Williams,” payable to Menasco Studio for $63.75, Shreveport, April 7, 1949. In very good condition, with two vertical folds, light overall toning with a small central block from tape to the reverse, expected cancellation holes, some slightly affecting the signature, and scattered spots of stray red ink from the cancellation stamp.
Upon moving to Shreveport, Louisiana in 1948, aspiring musician Hank Williams widened his audience by joining Louisiana Hayride, a popular radio show broadcast throughout the southwest. After releasing several singles to moderate success, he had his first number one hit with ‘Lovesick Blues’ in 1949, crossing over to mainstream audiences and earning a place in the Grand Ole Opry. With his rise to national fame beginning, Williams hired the well-known Menasco Studio to take his first set of publicity photographs on April 6th, 1949. Half a century later, the images remain the finest ever taken of the musician, one of which was chosen as the basis for the Hank Williams stamp released by the Post Office in 1993. Williams checks are fantastically scarce—this just the third we have offered—and with this one’s notable recipients, the photographers responsible for what would become the quintessential images of the legendary musician, it is the most desirable by far. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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