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Of Pinstripes and Presidents Fameabilia brings heroes to
life for generations of fans. All judgments aside about my brother's Christmas wish, there was the fear that a signature by the 1960's baseballer known as "Broadway Joe" might be harder to come by than an A-Rod Series ring. With the shopping hours ticking away, things were looking grim indeed. Five minutes later, I walked out of Fameabilia toting a framed and fully authenticated photo of Joe Pep- and Christmas was saved, as it had been so many times before, courtesy of Julie Baron and her "unique gallery" on Monmouth Street. Broadway Joe is merely one of many classic characters from the world of professional sports who has performed both public and private autograph sessions at Fameabilia, the veritable museum of memorabilia established by owner Julie and her husband, Bruce, in May of 2001. Opened at the former location of a small playhouse on Monmouth Street where several rows of the original theater seats have been retained for its signing area, the gallery has turned Red Bank into a Cooperstown cavalcade, with personal appearances by the like of Ygi Berra, Whitey Ford and Phil Rizzuto. As a rule of thumb, Julie asserts that "when we bring a Yankee in, we pack the place"----and appearances by Bronx Bombers from Yogi, Scooter and Don Larsen to Bucky Dent and Graig Nettles have brought generations of pinstripe fans to Fameabilia. The enclosed signing room has also hoseted a slew of gridiron greats includeing Lawrence Taylor, Mean Joe Greene, and the entire NY Jets "Sack Exchange" line-up of the 1980's, as well as luminaries from boxing like Joe Frazier and Jake "Raging Bull: LaMotta, Walt Frazier from basketball, King Kong Bundy from wrestling, and more. While sports-themed memorabilia remains number one, with baseball topping all other sports among collectors, about 20 percent of the business is in historical documents, a filed that caters to a totally different breed of collector. In fact, the Barons started Fameabilia from their own private collection of historical materials. A tour of the gallery's walls is a museum-quality browsing experience in itself. Autographs, speeches, photographs, artifacts and other rare finds are on display representing the "A"-listers of culture, politics and the sciences---with names like Einstein, Lincoln, Custer and Sinatra vying for attention with Mark Twain, Douglass MacArthur, Marilyn Monroe and Robert E. Lee. Fully half the roster of American presidents is represented here, alongside gold record that were originally presented to John Lennon and elvis Presley. There's even and eye-patch from the late Israeli defense minister Moshe Dayan. The owner cites some of her own "dream" items as any quality piece from Babe Ruth of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, as well as good-condition Muhammad Ali signatures, and autographs from the late home-run champ roger Maris, who was famously reticent about signings. Items range in price from $10 to $40,000 fro an authentic signature of President Lincoln. One priceless-and not for ale- artifact on display is an official Congressionally recognized copy of the Declaration of Independence. "We work only with top authenticators" explains Julie. " I'd rather say that I can't get you something, than to get if from someone I'm not comfortable with." Since establishing themselves in collectors circles, the Barons have participated regularly in charitable auctions around New York and New Jersey-and, while the online-orders aspect of their business has grown exponentially over the years, the gallery space, with its comfy couches and many explorable crannies, has remained a popular destination f men, women and children from all around the region." This is the fun part of the business, to meet all of these people", observes Julie. " It's a glimpse into the lives of these iconic figures who have really inspired people from all over the area ". "This is more than just a business, " observes Julie, whose teen-age children have also helped out during signings and special events." A lot of our customers have really become friends".
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