Martha Raye Signed Photo w/ Johnny Ray and Giselle McKenzie – COA JSA

Presented is an autographed photo of Martha Raye, Johnny Ray and Giselle McKenzie. Each signed their respective photo on both the front and back. The front side is dedicated to Martha Raye and she signed it (8.5″ x 9″) in black felt tip (“9”) with the inscription, “Bless You.” It was clipped delicately from the 1959 book, “Pictorial History of Television.” The back of the clipping features a different television show and has autographs of Johnny Ray and Giselle McKenzie (also in black felt tip (“9”)).

Martha Raye, nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway. She was honored in 1969 at the Academy Awards as the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipient for her volunteer efforts and services to the troops.

The autographs were part of a larger compilation within the book. Note, there were two books in this collection from which these autographs were obtained. Wildly obsessive by a Hollywood insider no doubt it featured the duteous task of 400 signatures of television actors and actresses, nearly all signed by their respective images, with a few adding brief inscriptions in the books. Now, the signatures have been wonderfully conserved from the books and preserved singly for appreciation.

Television’s intention was to revolutionize America’s desire for more entertainment. Previously for enjoyment, Americans were flocking to the theater or stationed next to their radio for their daily broadcasts. Before the end of 1931, as the industry gained a full-steam-ahead approach, CBS President William Paley announced they were, “on the air seven hours daily, seven days a week.”

In 1959, Daniel Blum caught up with the history of the television industry by providing a first look at the medium in the form of a photography book. Titled, “Pictorial History of Television” the publication peeked into the earliest conception in the 1930s toward it’s humble beginnings in the late 1940s into the late 1950s. The hardcover is a heavily photo-illustrated survey of the major programs and personalities of that time period (1930s-50s). Notably, the era of television like the silent film is rapidly vanishing from first-hand accounts and memories as generations get older. So, there is the importance behind this work.

Blum continued his cavalcade of media books later in his career with “A Pictorial History of the Talkies”, “The Silent Screen”, “The American Theatre” and “Television” and of course volumes and volumes of the “Theatre World” and “Screen World” Annuals.

Authentication: JSA Basic Cert & Sticker

Martha Raye Signed Photo