Humphrey Bogart’s “Short Snorter” Bank Note Signatures
Hotz features the two notes he has found over the years, which were autographed by the legendary and well-known actor Humphrey Bogart!
Welcome to the new year, 2025. Last month, I entertained you with an article on the 1891 $1 Treasury note carried through the Spanish-American War deployment of the 157th Indiana Volunteer Infantry by its commander, Colonel George Studebaker.
As much of my longtime readers know, I have been collecting inscribed currency for many, many years and have showcased some of them, including the Studebaker note, in these pages. Every now and then, I veer off the visits to national banks to present some of my finds. This month will continue that trend, though next month, we will return to the standard national bank format with an exciting visit to New Mexico.
Most of you are familiar with so-called “short snorter” notes, which were signed by various individuals, primarily military, during World War II. I have been collecting these for some time, mostly looking for interesting stories or notes signed by famous personages. I have enough of these to fill a year’s worth of Banknote Reporter articles. Still, for this month, I thought you might be interested in seeing and learning about not one but two notes that I have found over the years autographed by the legendary and well-known actor Humphrey Bogart! His performances in classic Hollywood films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart as the greatest male star of classic American cinema.
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born on December 25, 1899. He was the son of a reputable doctor, Belmont DeForest Bogart, and Maude Humphrey, a respected portrait artist. Bogart and his two younger sisters lived comfortably. The family had a permanent residence in a prominent section of New York City and a seasonal retreat on Canandaigua Lake. At their summer home, Dr. Bogart taught his son how to play chess and sail, two activities that the actor would enjoy for the rest of his life.
Bogart grew up in a wealthy family and attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, a boarding school to which he was admitted based on family connections. Although his parents hoped that he would go on to Yale University, Bogart left Phillips in 1918 after one semester due to both failing grades and fighting and drinking. His parents were deeply disappointed in their failed plans for his future. With nothing on the horizon, Bogart enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1918 and spent most of his time on a ship ferrying troops back from Europe after the end of World War I.
In the heady days of the early 1920s, Bogart was in New York City and got involved in stage acting. He was successful at this and eventually moved to Hollywood, California, where he was engaged by the Fox Film Corporation for the princely sum of $750 per week. He also participated in Broadway plays in New York. In 1936, his film career took off when he was selected to co-star in “The Petrified Forest.”
Numerous film roles then came his way, with Bogart mostly playing gangsters and criminals in Warner Brothers films. But the hits continued, with famous roles in “Black Legion,” “High Sierra,” “The Maltese Falcon,” and, of course, “Casablanca,” in 1942. “Casablanca” won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 16th Academy Awards for 1943. Bogart was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role but lost to Paul Lukas for his performance in “Watch on the Rhine.” The film vaulted Bogart from fourth place to first in the studio’s roster, and he more than doubled his annual salary to over $460,000 by 1946, making him the world’s highest-paid actor.
Now, let’s look at some of the notes. The first I will show you is an Italian 50-lire note of the type of Pick #64, issued March 31, 1943. I found this note about 25 years ago at a coin show in Syracuse, New York. A well-known currency dealer in that area had quite a few boxes of world currency, and as I perused them, I came across this note priced at $5. This seemed cheap for the note at the time (little did I realize that almost no one collects Italian currency), but then I noticed that the identifying sticker on the holder indicated “writing” (hence the low price). I turned the note over to find just one pen signature on the back. It didn’t take me long to decipher it as “Humphrey Bogart.” Naturally, I bought it.
Why was Bogart’s signature on a 1943 Italian bank note? Well, during part of 1943 and 1944, Bogart went on USO and War Bond tours accompanied by his then-wife Mayo Methot Bogart (more on her later), enduring arduous travels to Italy and North Africa, including Casablanca. It is likely that Bogart signed this note when he was in Italy during this time. A United States soldier or officer may have grabbed whatever paper was on hand, in this case, a 50-lire note, and shoved it at Bogart for an autograph.
Humphrey Bogart was married four times during his life. In 1922, he met actress Helen Menken in New York, and they married in 1926. This marriage did not last, and they divorced in 1927, though they remained friends. Shortly thereafter, in 1928, Bogart married actress Mary Philips, who he met when they appeared together in a play. This marriage lasted until 1937 when they parted ways.
On August 21, 1938, Bogart entered a turbulent third marriage to actress Mayo Methot, a lively, friendly woman when sober but paranoid and aggressive when drunk. She became convinced that Bogart was unfaithful to her (which he eventually was, with actress Lauren Bacall, while filming “To Have and Have Not” in 1944). They drifted apart; Methot’s drinking increased, and she threw plants, crockery, and other objects at Bogart. She set their house on fire, stabbed him with a knife, and slashed her wrists several times. Bogart needled her; apparently enjoying confrontation, he was sometimes violent as well. The press called them “the Battling Bogarts.” According to their friend, Julius Epstein, “The Bogart-Methot marriage was the sequel to the Civil War.”
Bogart bought a motor launch, which he named Sluggy, his nickname for Methot: “I like a jealous wife …We get on so well together (because) we don’t have illusions about each other...I wouldn’t give you two cents for a dame without a temper.” Louise Brooks said that “…except for (actor) Leslie Howard, no one contributed as much to Humphrey’s success as his third wife, Mayo Methot.” Her influence was increasingly destructive, however, and Bogart also continued to drink.
Here we get to the second note I will present to you. It is a “Series of 1935-A” $1 silver certificate, “short snorter,” covered with signatures. On the back, along the bottom left, far left, and top left margins, it is inscribed, “Nov. 15, 1941- Short Snorter – ‘Bud’ Caldwell.” I like this one because it has a contemporary reference to “short snorter.” It is not clear if all the signatures on it hail from that date; my conjecture is that Bud started the signatures then, and others followed over time.
The face of the note is covered with signatures, but the key part is the lower section of the note to the left of Washington’s portrait, where we find, in order, the signatures “Buck Jones/Humphrey Bogart/Mayo Methot Bogart.” I have done some research on this note, and it appears to me that it was not signed during any of Bogart’s USO or War Bond tour appearances in Europe.
First, the date November 15, 1941, predates American entry into World War II. More importantly, Buck Jones's signature, just above that of Bogart, is telling. Who was Buck Jones?
Buck Jones (born Charles Frederick Gebhart on December 12, 1891–November 30, 1942) was an American actor and cowboy star known for his roles in Western films. He started his career as a stuntman and then transitioned into acting in the silent film era. Jones became a prominent figure in the 1920s and 1930s, starring in numerous B-Western films and series, where he was often cast as a heroic cowboy.
He appeared in over 160 films, with a reputation for his strong screen presence and rugged, heroic characters. Jones also had a successful career in radio and appeared in television programs in the early days of the medium. His career was tragically cut short when he died in a fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1942. He was attending a charity event when the fire broke out, and he succumbed to smoke inhalation. Jones is remembered as one of the great Western stars of his era.
So, Jones had to have signed the “short snorter” prior to the end of November 1942, and with the Bogarts’ signatures just below his, it would appear the couple signed it sometime in 1942. Where were they going with Jones? I am not sure, but it could have been a bond drive along the East Coast.
Bogart divorced Methot in 1945. Indeed, he had been having an affair during their marriage, this time to Bacall, whom he met when she was 19 and he was 45. They married in 1945 and remained so until Bogart’s death from cancer in 1957.
I have included photos of Bogart's autographed notes and additional photos of him, Methot, and Jones. I hope you have enjoyed a look at these items. Collecting autographed and inscribed notes is a lot of fun––I am pleased to say that every note in my collection I found unattributed––a credit, I suppose, to my ability to read sloppy cursive signatures. One of the biggest problems with deciphering signatures is that most appear on $1 notes, and these are busy designs, meaning they have a lot of scrollwork. Often, the signatures are very hard to read once they have blended into areas of the note’s design.
Readers may email Mark Hotz directly with questions or comments about this article or national bank notes in general at markbhotz@gmail.com.
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