Hopping on the “National Handwriting Day” bandwagon as it pertains to the Two Jeans, who are undoubtedly an interesting example of movie star autographs. (I’m glossing over secretarial autographs in this post, but those too exist and are a slightly rarer variant of extant Harlow autographs.)
For those unaware, Harlow’s mother handled the bulk of her daughter’s mail and autograph requests; an authentic Jean Harlow signature, which has its own characteristic, devil-may-care childlike scrawl, can go for several thousands of dollars. I’m not lucky enough to have a real Harlow (someday!), but I have a few signed by Big Jean which are, of course, very much more attainable. She signed quite a few. You’ll know when you’re looking at something her mother signed—her grand, sweeping handwriting is unmistakable.
Harlow herself was typically happy to sign an autograph to the person lucky enough to catch her in person, and she inscribed plenty of portraits to immediate family and friends, frequently signing off with “—Me”.
There’s a few examples of jointly signed autographs, and I’m partial to this 1934 portrait sent from the “Two Jeans” to one of Harlow’s favorite pen pals, Stanley J. Brown, whom she referred to as her “safety valve”—somebody disconnected from Hollywood she could sound off to when needed. Stan shared some of their correspondence with the press after her death, which this is an example of, but he (thankfully) guarded her secrets and never divulged anything intimate.
Below is an example of a “Mother Jean” autograph from my collection, signed to an unidentified “Bill”. Compare it to the authentic Harlow even further below, which sold at auction in 2011 and is part of a private collection. (Image is courtesy of Heritage). As you can see, the two women, despite their alarming closeness, had distinctly different personalities which comes across in their penmanship. I can feel Jean Bello’s flair for drama in her big “H”, as opposed to her daughter’s more, modest, happy-go-lucky lettering.
Harlow Heaven 