Government postcard, postmarked March 22, 1949, flawlessly signed in blue ink by KiKi Cuyler. PSA has encapsulated the card and graded the signature GEM MINT 10. In addition to adding the salutation "Sincerely Yours," Cuyler has also signed the card with his given first name: "Hazen 'KiKi' Cuyler." Kiki Cuyler's signature is rare today because he died in 1950 at the age of fifty-one, but was not elected to the Hall of Fame until 1968. As a result, few autograph collectors had the foresight to obtain his signature.
This card is part of a much larger signature collection compiled by our consignor's father in the late 1940s ("The Long Beach Autograph Collection"). Like nearly all autograph collectors at the time, his main method was to write each player and enclose a prepaid self-addressed government postcard to be signed and returned. As we can see by the size of the collection, most players were more than happy to oblige. All the items from the collection are featured in nineteen separate lots in this auction, including the signatures of many prominent Hall of Famers. The postcard (5.5x3.25") displays a few light creases along the perimeter and has a small piece of clear tape affixed to the top border.