For six months in the early 1930s—April 1 to October 1, 1932—the Waterman fountain pen company ran a contest for boys and girls. Each entrant was to fill a 5 x 7.25 autograph album with signatures of notables of the day and send it to the company to qualify for a prize. An array of 333 prizes were given away, from the $1000 first prize to the Waterman’s pencil for runners up. Waterman’s autograph album, 5 x 7.25, belonging to a young man named William Tierney of Weston, West Virginia, with 324 clipped ink and pencil signatures, almost all on clipped slips affixed to the inside pages. Signers include: Calvin Coolidge, several members of Herbert Hoover’s cabinet, Benjamin Cardozo, Frank Kellogg, Diego Rivera, Maxfield Parrish, James Montgomery Flagg, Rose O’Neill (with a pre-printed sketch of Kewpie), George McManus, the Mayo Brothers, John Henry Kellogg, Jerome Kern (adding an AMQS), Irving Berlin, Carl Sandburg, Ernest Seton, Thornton W. Burgess, Ernest Hemingway, Grace Coolidge, Edith Bolling Wilson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Charles M. Schwab, J. D. Waterman, Daniel Beard, Howard Thurston, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart, Adolph Zukor, Carl Laemmle, Maurice Chevalier, Tom Mix, Jean Harlow (Mama Jean), Paul Muni, Fielding Yost, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Robert Zuppke, Pug Rentner, Francis Ouimet, Gar Wood, Kenesaw Landis, Jimmie Foxx, Harold Vanderbilt, Grantland Rice, Gene Sarazen, Richard E. Byrd, and William Sunday. All the signatures have been applied to the pages with brief identifications added underneath by the collector, as specified by Waterman’s. In fine condition, with a couple of loose signatures. As with all of these Waterman books, the signatures were closely cut and pasted in and, as such, are not well-made for removal from the book. Some loose pages, last page detached, expected toning, and moderate handling wear, otherwise very good condition. Although it is unknown if this particular album won one of the offered prizes, this is arguably one of the best examples we have offered. RRAuction COA.
