Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1884 — “The Autograff Bizness.” [ARTICLE]

“The Autograff Bizness.”

Josh Billings hits the nail oh the liead wiien lie writes: “I receive every day from four to ten letters asking me for my autograph, all of which I reply to, sending the desired signature. The matter has grown into a first-class business. To make it profitable one thing must hereafter be observed. I shall not be able to supply the demand only to those who inclose a stamped and addressed envelope for remailing. That may be tuff, but it is so honest that I think a barbarian would shed tears over it. It may pay a new beginner in the autograft’ trade to send his signature in an envelope stamped by himself, but I feel as though I had?got a peg higher in the traffick. If this bizness is did as it is did now, in forty or fifty years more I will be expected not only to furnish each applicant with an autograff, but a box of pills and as 2 greenback to pay them for the trouble. ”