In his memoir, The Garner Files, actor James Garner mentions how when he got famous he couldn't go anywhere without someone approaching him for an autograph. Garner explains that he usually would just smile and write out his name, that it was easier than turning someone down and no feelings got hurt. According to Garner, Paul Newman stopped signing autographs after a guy approached him at urinal with a pen and paper. When the Dirty Harry films were in release, Garner says that Clint Eastwood used to get requests from people to autograph their guns. And Garner mentions that "Gary Cooper wrote checks for everything - gasoline, cigarettes, groceries, meals in restaurants - because he knew most of them wouldn't be cashed."
That got me thinking. If a celebrity wrote you a check for something, would you cash that check or frame it for the autograph?
That's a pretty clever idea on Gary Cooper's part.