Handwritten letter from Eddie Farrell to an autograph collector

By far, eBay has been the most effective tool in building my Eddie Farrell collection and I monitor the marketplace frequently. Every day you can find copies of his 1933 Goudey baseball card. I have dozens. Every day you can find copies of team photos in which he appeared. I have them all. But it’s rare that I’ll find something truly unique. Something that gives me any kind of insight into Grandpa Eddie. But then one day, there was a letter.

Handwritten in blue on paper toned with decades of age, it read:

2228 So. 10th St
Ironton, Ohio

Dear Larry:

Sorry not to have returned your cards sooner.

Have been out of town the past ten days due to sickness in the family.

Vic Aldridge and I write to one another once a year. (Xmas)

I hope you will be able to get the autographs of the old timers.

Sincerely,

Eddie

My great-grandfather’s personal reply to a TTM (through the mail) autograph request. In a second eBay listing there was a signed index card, one of the “cards” referenced in the note. I was the winning bidder on both lots. There was no other outcome possible.

It is the only Eddie Farrell autograph I have. It means more to me than anything else in my collection. And I purchased it on eBay.