Interesting.
I just came across an unusual item up for auction:
Vintage fountain pen signature and inscription, “To Julia Shauer, Here’s another, from Carole Lombard,” on an off-white 6.5 x 4.25 sheet of Lombard’s “The Farm” stationery with one of Lombard’s personally owned triangular buttons affixed at top left. Accompanied by the original Paramount Pictures mailing envelope, postmarked May 3, 1938.
Well, this isn’t your regular old fan mail. How do we know? To begin with, the “Cordially,Carole Lombard” is missing. (A dead secretarial give away). Secondly, I’ve seen Julia Shauer’s name pop up in some of the old trade papers before. She was present at some of the funerals for Hollywood’s Royalty during Lombard’s lifetime.
What I can’t really understand is why she would request buttons from Carole? I’m assuming the “Here’s another” is in reference to the buttons. Has anyone heard of Carole giving out buttons before?
On another note, that’s the first time I’ve seen “the farm” stationary before.
If you want this item you are in luck because it is currently up for auction at RRAuction. The bid is currently set at $294 and you have until May 13th to place your bids. CLICK HERE to bid now.
Photo Update: I added a few more images to the Photo Archives. I’ll be doing a bit of Spring Cleaning there shortly. Just a little organizing and re-categorizing. Nothing too major but I just wanted to give you the heads up in case you see older pictures popping up under the Latest Uploads.
12 Responses to Carole Lombard Gave Out Buttons?
Leave a Reply
WELCOME TO CAROLELOMBARD.ORG
Welcome to the online home of everything Carole Lombard. This website is created by Carla Valderrama, a cinema lover in her twenties who lives in Los Angeles. Come explore and contribute.Carole Lombard Photo Archives
Carole Lombard Events
Find out about Carole Lombard film screenings and events near you.NEW CAROLE LOMBARD BIOGRAPHY
Carole Lombard .org Awards
That is weird. I’ve never heard of a star handing out buttons. Thank you letting us know about this auction. This is definitely an item worth getting. I’m going to bid!
Beth
P.S. I LOVE this site. I just found it last week and it’s been a joy to learn all about this gallant lady.
Thank you Beth and WELCOME!!
I was just wondering if “The Farm” refers to the Encino Ranch? Also, are you saying if something is signed “Cordially, Carole Lombard” that means it is a secretarial as most signed items I have seen including the many 5x7s are usually all have the “cordially”. Thanks for posting this most unusual autograph of Carole’s. Somehow you always manage to find the neatest Carole items…;-) Love this site!!!
Pam
Hey Pam! I thought “the farm” was in reference to the Encino Ranch too.
As for the “Cordially, Carole Lombard” autograph’s being genuine or secretarial, I’m going to let the expert, JOSEPH MADDALENA who writes for Autograph Magazine answer that one:
“The great stars had access to the best quality of photographs. For instance, when you see an oversize Carole Lombard, it’s on double-weight photo stock, and either Otto Dyer or Eugene Robert Richee is usually the photographer. They’re exceptional photographs and they are what Lombard would have had personal access to. So, if a friend, a colleague or a fellow star requested an autograph, she would generally take one of these photographs, inscribe it to the person and present it in person—much differently than something you would receive in the mail from the publicity department of the studio. ”
“She was also part of the star system. So, you’ll see 5×7 head shots of her usually signed “Cordially, Carole Lombard” that are almost always secretarial. They were pumped out by the studios to keep fans watching her films.”
“On 8x10s and 11x14s, the photos she most likely signed, there are lengthy inscriptions. They’re gorgeous photographs and mostly on double-weight stock. There may be 100 to 200, 8×10 inscribed photographs of Lombard in existence and they generally sell in the $1,500 range.”
“The 11×14 photographs of Lombard are much rarer—there are maybe 20 or 30 of them in the world. The real long-term values for a collector are these oversize, signed photographs because they are the rarest. They usually bear personal inscriptions and they are the highest form of collecting Hollywood signed photographs. The price for an 11×14 can run from $2,000 to $15,000, depending on a number of factors, including pose, condition, what the inscription says and who it is inscribed to.”
Hope that helps!
“The farm” was indeed a reference to her home on St. Cloud Road in Beverly Hills. I have no idea why she called it that.
This is intriguing. What I forgot to ask Vince on his post on 4/15 is what ranch are they talking about that Carole owned while making True Confessions? There was also a post on one of your blogs about Clark & Carole raising horses on a ranch and I believe this was before their marriage and the Encino ranch. Could the St. Cloud Rd house be the ranch they were referring to? From the little I’ve seen the interior was similar to the Encino ranch, a far cry from her bachlorette pad on Hollywood Blvd.
Well, as somebody who has 23 dogs in and around her house (Rescue), I can identify with THE FARM as an affectionate “tag”..Even
just 1 hairy sheepdog can produce a mound of hair.FASCINATING and awful cute mystery is that!;)
Rose: The ranch from the True Confession photos actually belonged to a lawyer friend of Clark’s. John Engstead said Carole had planned the whole shoot weeks in advance, all the way down to the plaid pajamas she had designed. Girl knew how to work it!
And as for “the farm” tag: I just remembered that Carole had so many freaking animals! She got her rooster Edmund years before the Encino ranch days.
Thanks, Carla, for answering my question regarding the authenticity of Carole’s autographs. I appreciate this immensely! I can’t tell you the numerous times I came thisclose to purchasing one of those 5x7s you see so often up for auction. I always had a feeling that these were possibly “secretarials” as the signature always looked pretty much the same and having no personal dedications.
And Tally, I couldn’t help but chuckle when you said how you could identify with the tag “The Farm”. Same here with my menagerie of pets (dogs, cats, birds, fish, and a Gecko, too
but most days I refer to mine as simply “The Zoo”…;-)))))))))
Pam
Thanks, Carla. I now remember reading about that photo shoot. The “blurb” made it sound like it was her ranch. The plaid PJ’s were crazy, but she pulled it off as usual!
Oh the blurbs . . . those studios knew how to spin, spin, spin! I really love that shoot. She and Engstead made a great team when it came to “action” or “candid” photos.
Thank you Carla for mentioning our auction. The Carole Lombard button and signature comes from a larger collection from Julia Shauer, who was the niece of Paramount Studios founder, Adolf Zukor.
Apparently, Julia suffered from ill health and this collection and correspondence kept her spirits up.
Here are a couple of other lots that I hope shed light on the context of this wonderful Carole Lombard signature.
http://viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?mid=wdswdp#/page242/
http://viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?mid=wdswdp#/page244/
If anyone has any questions about a Carole Lombard signature or authenticity in the future, please let me know.
Bobby Livingston
bl@rrauction.com