A scrapbook assembled largely during the 1930s by Hilda Jeanne Payin has sold for $28,759 at auction, bringing together signatures from some of the most celebrated figures in American sports, politics, science, music and entertainment.
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scrapbook → assemble → sports
The collection featured baseball legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, inventor Thomas Edison and composer George Gershwin, alongside dozens of other prominent personalities.
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collection → feature → personalities
According to the official lot description published by RR Auction, the 9-by-12-inch hardcover album contained more than 200 signatures, signed photographs, cards, correspondence and other signed pieces.
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album → accord → signatures
It sold on October 14, 2026, including the buyer’s premium.
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It → sell → premium
A collection spanning several generations of famous names
The scrapbook was more than a collection of celebrity signatures.
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scrapbook → span → signatures
It captured a broad cross-section of public life during the early and middle decades of the 20th century, from American presidents and pioneering scientists to musicians, actors and sporting icons.
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It → capture → musicians
RR Auction described the album as a unique assemblage, notable for the number of pieces personally addressed to Payin.
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Auction → describe → Payin
These inscriptions, greetings and dated items helped establish the collection’s personal character and provided clues about when it was assembled.
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it → date → clues
Among its most prominent sporting names were Babe Ruth, one of baseball’s most famous players, and Lou Gehrig, the New York Yankees star remembered for his remarkable career.
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Ruth → remember → career
Both were represented by signed cards.
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Both → represent → cards
Thomas Edison, whose inventions helped transform modern technology, contributed another major name to the collection through a signed card bearing the inscription “Thos A Edison”.
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inventions → help → inscription
Earhart, the pioneering aviator who became an international celebrity, was represented by a signed card as well.
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who → become → card
The scrapbook also included a signed card from George Gershwin, the American composer known for works blending classical music with jazz influences.
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scrapbook → include → influences
Presidents, explorers and political figures
The album’s historical significance extended into American political life.
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significance → extend → life
It contained a signed piece from former US president Calvin Coolidge on White House letterhead, alongside a signature from his wife, Grace Coolidge.
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It → contain → wife
Other presidential connections included Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover, as well as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mamie Doud Eisenhower.
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connections → include → Hoover
Their signatures added to the collection’s representation of political figures and public personalities from different periods.
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signatures → add → periods
The scrapbook also featured Frank B. Kellogg, who served as US secretary of state and received the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in promoting the Kellogg-Briand Pact, an international agreement intended to renounce war as an instrument of national policy.
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who → feature → policy
Exploration and aviation were represented by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, known for his polar expeditions, and Jean Piccard and Jeanette Piccard, pioneers of high-altitude ballooning.
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Exploration → represent → ballooning
Adventurer Aloha Wanderwell, recognised for driving around the world, was another notable name.
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Wanderwell → recognise → world
Together, these signatures gave the album a historical reach beyond any single profession or period.
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signatures → give → profession
Hollywood stars and musical greats filled its pages
Entertainment formed another substantial part of Payin’s collection.
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Entertainment → fill → collection
RR Auction listed signatures from Golden Age Hollywood performers including Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Bette Davis, Mae West, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.
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Auction → list → Pickford
Several items carried personal messages.
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items → carry → messages
Lionel Barrymore signed a piece addressed to Payin in 1935, while John Barrymore also addressed a message directly to her.
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Barrymore → sign → her
Such inscriptions helped distinguish the scrapbook from a collection consisting solely of detached signatures.
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inscriptions → help → signatures
The album included performers from Broadway, jazz, vaudeville and popular music, among them Irving Berlin, Cab Calloway, Bing Crosby and Ethel Waters.
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album → include → them
One especially personal inscription came from Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, who wrote a message to Payin in 1932.
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who → come → 1932
Classical music was equally well represented.
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music → represent → ?
The collection featured composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, conductor Arturo Toscanini, violinist Jascha Heifetz and violin prodigy Yehudi Menuhin.
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collection → feature → Rachmaninoff
Cellist Gregor Piatigorsky signed a card for Payin in 1936 and included a musical staff from Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.
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Piatigorsky → sign → Concerto
Why the scrapbook attracted auction interest
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scrapbook → attract → interest
RR Auction listed the scrapbook in its Fine Autographs and Artifacts Featuring Notorious Notables and Royalty sale.
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Auction → list → Notables
The lot carried an estimate of more than $20,000 and ultimately sold for $28,759, including the buyer’s premium.
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lot → carry → premium
The auction house described the album as being in very good to fine overall condition, although some signed cards showed irregular toning and the cover had scuff marks.
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cover → describe → marks
Its appeal rested on the combination of famous names, the breadth of its contents and the evidence linking many pieces directly to Payin.
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appeal → rest → Payin
Rather than representing a single celebrity or event, the scrapbook preserved a personal collection spanning sports, science, exploration, politics and entertainment.
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scrapbook → represent → sports
Nearly nine decades after many of its signatures were gathered, the album had become a historical record of the people who shaped popular culture and public life during the 20th century.
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who → gather → century
The Aporia
