CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH? WEB GIVES PRACTICAL HELP TO COLLECTORS (COLUMN 95)

Last week we talked about the spoken word. This week we'll take a look at the written word.

Hundreds of sites for people who collect autographs can be found on the Internet. You can also find practical information, like addresses for sports and entertainment celebrities.

A good place to start is the Universal Autograph Collectors Club, which can be found at

www.uacc.org

Joni: Their logo is "Safeguarding the past for the future." They say autograph collecting is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world. They point that in 1834, former president James Madison sent an autograph to then Princess Victoria for a collection she was making. The future British queen was only 15 years old at the time.

Peggy: Some of the more well-known autograph collectors have included J.P. Morgan, John F. Kennedy, William Randolph Hearst, Franklin Roosevelt, Malcolm Forbes and Ray Bradbury.

Joni: According to these collectors, anything ink adheres to is fair game, including letters, checks, baseballs, books, menus. They also have a lot of autograph-related links.

Peggy: If you need some advice about how to get started, check out a site that claims to be the Internet's first complete online guide. It's full of great advice for beginners.

www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/7962

Joni: They advise collecting by mail. Send a simple letter asking for an autograph on a card or photograph. It's recommended that collectors include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the reply.

Peggy: Here's more advice. Handwrite your requests. Be polite and use correct spelling. Try to catch actors between films and politicians when they are out of the office.

Joni: One of the most complex problems in the hobby is whether the signature is real. If the person signs right in front of you, you know. Otherwise, it may be hard to tell.

Peggy: The sight has a list of celebrities who routinely send out rubber stamp signatures or secretary-signed signatures. Many sites also include scanned celebrity autographs so you can tell if yours is the real McCoy.

Joni: He also has a list of celebrities who are generous about giving autographs, like Walter Cronkite. He also has a list of the difficult ones.

Peggy: Some autographs are worth money, but this expert says autographs make a terrible investment. Prices are high.

Peggy: Ready to start collecting? You need to know where to write. Try Chip's Celebrity page with lots and lots of addresses and e-mail addresses.

www.addresses.site2go/com/index.html

Joni: Celebrities tend to move more often than regular people, because they have more money, I guess. So you have to try them, but there are no guarantees.

Peggy: Hey, you can find celebrity e-mail addresses for everyone from Oprah to Paul Anka. He has dozens more street addresses, alphabetically listed.

Joni: Here's a category for unusual celebrity addresses, like Yasser Arafat or Maya Angelou or Jimmy Carter.

Peggy: Sci-fi autographs seem popular, especially Star Wars and Star Trek. There are many addresses from those favorites here. This site also gives you addresses for X-Files personalities including Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny and creator Chris Carter. Should we write some plot ideas?

Joni: We could share those strange days at the office -- like that guy looking for the alien crash site. Maybe not. OK Titanic fans. You can find Leonardo Dicaprio's address in Los Angeles here too.

Peggy: My 7-year-old daughter has suddenly become a fan of the Spice Girls. Here's their address in London, England. She'll be thrilled. We probably should write soon, while the group is still popular.

Joni: Several autograph magazines can be found online. Here's one, Autograph Collector.

www.odysseygroup.com/acm.htm

Peggy: They have autograph stories. Here's an interview with Shirley Jones, who is a very willing autograph signer. She signs about 10 requests a day. Her strangest request was to autograph a beer bottle.

Joni: A kid has written about nice television stars who sent him autographs. Here's a list of addresses most requested: Tom Cruise, Bill Gates, Chaka Khan and Faye Dunaway.

Peggy: Here you can find a library of signatures also. Here's Tim Allen's. Wow! His handwriting is awful. Back to school tool man.

Joni: I like the way many of these autograph sites are helpful to beginners. Another good place to start is Autograph Central.

www.autographcentral.com

Peggy: This is a great site. According to its creator, the site attracts from 150 to 200 people a day -- not bad for an individual Web page. It's well-organized and contains lots of helpful information, such as reference materials and a cheat sheet to autograph abbreviations.

Joni: He also lists lots of "bad" celebrity addresses. They may not work because the celebrity moved or simply refuses to sign autographs by mail. I like the way he publishes these addresses as a way to save people time, postage and disappointment.

Peggy: The site also has lots of recent successful addresses along with a brief explanation of who these people are.

Joni: He also includes addresses for such specialities as Star Wars, Star Trek and the Simpsons. You can also hook up to an autograph ring that will link you to hundreds of other autograph sites. Do you think they'd be interested in our autographs?

Peggy: Only on the bottom of a check. What's your favorite quote site? E-mail us at click@semissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

~Peggy Scott and Joni Adams are members of the Southeast Missourian online staff.