Spike Jones - auto or printed?

burghman

I have the following card from Spike Jones, the musician/bandleader. At first glance, I thought it was an autograph but a close-up has me thinking it was printed on the card - the consistency of the lines just looks too exact and perfect from start to finish. Any thoughts?

JBK

I vote real, but can't be 100% certain without seeing it in person.

The paper has a texture, and the signature has a few "skips" over indented areas in the surface, which the printed words don't seem to have.

Also, the beginning of that squiggle under the signature looks like a pen stroke.

Finally, while not conclusive, people who used to have Christmas cards imprinted with their name would usually just have it printed in a regular type style.

burghman

Thanks JBK - after looking more closely, I agree with you. While I was hoping a slight color variation might confirm without a doubt, I was able to eyeball the thin lines of some of the other text and they don’t show the skipping that you pointed out so it looks legit to me

Thanks!

OhioRiver

Looks printed on to me.

291fifth

It doesn't look like what I would expect to see from a fountain pen signature. The inking is too consistent throughout the signature.

JBK

Yeah, I'm not liking the super close-ups as much.

What era was this from? If it was supposedly from a fountain pen then I'm not sure, either.

burghman

Not sure of the exact year, but probably late 40s to early 50s? Here are a couple pics through a loupe - I’m guessing the edges would be rougher if made by a pen?

JBK

Great pics. I'd try a close up of the printed text for comparison.

I'm confused by the couple lines spinning off the writing. Could be a fiber stuck to a printing plate, I guess.

JBK

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JBK

40s or 50s likely would be fountain pen, and not a felt tip or roller ball that might give a more consistent flow. I have seen some pretty consistent fountain pens, but usually there is a at least a slight variation in flow.

burghman

@JBK said:
Great pics. I'd try a close up of the printed text for comparison.

I'm confused by the couple lines spinning off the writing. Could be a fiber stuck to a printing plate, I guess.

Those were the exact reasons that I took those pics through the loupe - I thought that might be proof of a pen, but I also expected to see more blurriness to the edges. I'll take a peek at the printed text as well. Thanks!

JBK

Yes, especially with a fountain pen on textured paper, I'd expect to see some feathering or bleed at the edges.

coinkat

Spike Jones was a huge recording star for RCA in the 1944-1948 time frame. This could be an RCA promo type thing... He did record a few Christmas songs shortly after the war.