An Uncharacteristic Addition: Non-Sport Autograph Purchase

***This post was written by Richard Hardy.  You can follow him on Twitter at @BossHardy202***

Anyone who knows me, knows I mainly collect Pittsburgh sports items, Daryl Richardson cards, and vintage. Lots of vintage. A few weeks back, however, I surprised myself by stepping out of my comfort zone and making an instinctive purchase (after a little bit of research). As I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, I happened upon a sales post for an item I would never have guessed I’d want. When I read what it was, though, I was instantly interested. An autograph from Langston Hughes; a famous poet and social activist, among many other things. Hughes was a very influential individual for American culture, during an extremely racially-charged time in history. The signed piece was framed with a typed letter by Hughes and came with a PSA/DNA certificate of authenticity. I immediately started negotiating with the seller, still blown away from finding it. After coming to a price the seller and I could both live with, the agonizing wait was on. The wait was worth it to own such a great item.

I would have never guessed I would find such an amazing piece on Twitter, but I’m ecstatic that I did! In all honesty, I wouldn’t have thought to look for an item like this on eBay, so I may never have added it to my collection without Twitter. Just goes to show, you never know how social media may influence your collection!