Dear Helaine and Joe:Enclosed please find copies of pictures that I have of Jean Harlow. I wonder if you could give me any information on these pictures? — E.T., Palm City, Fla.
Dear E.T.: This photograph is not the kind that we can normally use. It came to us as a digital image on bond paper and, unfortunately, these are unusable 9.9999 times out of 10 (and that may very well turn out to be 10 times out of 10).
It is important that readers send us good, in focus, clear photographs on photographic paper, or we may not be able to see enough to respond to their inquiries. It should also be mentioned that letters without any photographs at all cannot be answered.
With that out of the way, let us begin by saying that Jean Harlow was born on March 3, 1911, to Mont Clair Carpenter and his wife, whose maiden name was Jean Poe Harlow. The new baby was named Harlean Carpenter, and, not long after her birth, her mother divorced her father and moved to Hollywood to become a star. This did not work out, and Harlean's mother married and moved to Chicago, where her daughter attended a private girls school. At 16, Harlean married and moved to Los Angeles, but her marriage broke up after two years and she began working as an extra in films — pushed by her mother, who is generally referred to being as "Mama Jean."
Harlean worked under the stage name Jean Harlow, which she borrowed from her mother, and she got her first major film role in 1930. Young Jean Harlow soon became the original "platinum-blond bombshell" and it is said that she was the first blond actress to play the part of the "bad girl" on screen.
Harlow's career was meteoric, and she was the American sex symbol of the 1930s until her death, at age 26, in 1937 from kidney failure. She is still something of an icon today, and a simple authentic signature of hers scribbled in an autograph book is worth between $1,400 and $2,000, while a signed photograph in her handwriting might be worth as much as $6,000.
Sadly, the photographs owned by E.T. are almost certainly not in Jean Harlow's actual handwriting. The vast majority of all signed Harlow photographs were done by "Mama Jean," who took great delight in inscribing her daughter's stage name, which, of course, just happened to be her name, too.
To be sure, Jean Harlow herself did sign some photographs, but these were generally either given to friends or signed on the spot for people she met. Most of the time, the photos that the star signed herself for friends were just signed "Jean."
This should not be interpreted to mean that the Harlow photographs signed by "Mama Jean" do not have value. They do. Many collectors consider these to be the "official" Harlow autographed photographs, and due to her short-lived career, these can also be hard to find.
The value of these "Mama Jean" autographed photographs depends on the particular photographic images, and the monetary values for these photos usually range between $400 and $800. The two pictures belonging to E.T. aren't the usual cheesecake, and the insurance replacement value for the two together is probably in the $1,000 — $1,200 range.
Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Questions can by mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.