Autograph by Carlos Gardel

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The Voice of Tango, Carlos Gardel, signs an autograph for a fan.

• Autograph by Carlos Gardel.
• 8.5 cm x 13.4 cm.
• No indication of date, probably in the United States.
• Perfect state.
• Unique piece.

Anyone who has walked through the cities on the Rio de la Plata coast, in the south of the Americas, knows that an air of melancholy passes through these parts of the world, not like sadness, but an indecipherable nostalgic beauty. Tango is the main symbol of this feeling. It's impossible to listen to a tango without feeling some nostalgia. From what? Everyone will say. What is not a subjective interpretation is the name of the main exponent of this musical aspect: Carlos Gardel, an elegant and vain man, who was recorded in the popular imagination with his suit and hat, as shown in the rare autographed photograph that we recently found. However, the origin of this great star is uncertain, and, although the currently most accepted version is that he was born in France, the singer's past is full of mysteries and adventures.

Although Buenos Aires was Gardel's home, there are three main hypotheses for his birth, all of which at some point were told by the singer himself. In 1904, after running away from home at the age of 14, he was arrested by a police officer who claimed that he had been born in France, in Toulouse, in 1890. In 1915, another version came to light, in which supposedly Gardel had come into the world in the city of La Plata, south of the Argentine capital. Years later, in 1923, Gardel had his passport written declaring that he was born in Uruguay, in 1887. Each time, the King of Tango registered with slightly different spellings, Gardes, Gardez and, finally, Gardel.

But why would the singer have given such different information about his identity? It seems that Gardel wanted to move away from some unorthodox deeds committed in his past. A famous Argentine newspaper had access to the singer's criminal record and some revelations came to light that could explain his reasons.

It seems that, before his international fame, Gardel had a past as a swindler. A police document from 1915 presents him as “el pibe Carlitos”, the boy Carlitos, who participated in the so-called “uncle fraud”, a scam that consisted of approaching a stranger in a bar claiming to have a rich uncle, who left an inheritance, but in a distant city. Soon, the man was asked to borrow money to go to the location to retrieve the treasure, with the promise of large compensation. Needless to say, said nephew escaped with the money without ever sending any news again, right? But would Gardel really have participated in this type of setup?

It is impossible to ascertain Carlos Gardel's origins or past before his fame, but it is a fact that his voice marked the history of humanity, being part of the World Memorial, a UNESCO program. Gardel made 957 recordings, covering 792 different themes. In addition to music, he was also a film star, recording both in France and the United States. Today, Gardel is a symbol, more than Argentine, Latin American. Unfortunately, the singer died at a young age, before the age of fifty, in a plane crash in Colombia. Still, he goes down in history not as a con man, but as the man who musicalized the vibrancy of a continent.

Carlos Gardel's autographs in photographs, in excellent condition, appear rarely.