Greeting Card from Marilyn Monroe's Father Charles Stanley Gifford Sells at Auction for $31K

Shafiq Najib
·3 min read
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Marilyn Monroe's Personal Belongings to Be Auctioned — Including Card from Her Father Stanley Gifford
Marilyn Monroe's Personal Belongings to Be Auctioned — Including Card from Her Father Stanley Gifford

Frank Povolny/Twentieth Century Fox/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Marilyn Monroe

One of Marilyn Monroe's most personal belongings is going home with a devoted fan just in time for the holidays.

A greeting card with a handwritten note to Monroe from her father Charles Stanley Gifford sold for a hefty sum at Julien's Auctions and TCM Present: Icons & Idols Hollywood over the weekend in Beverly Hills.

"Sold for $31,250," the auction house announced on Twitter. "A get-well greeting card from Marilyn Monroe's father, Stanley C. Gifford."

RELATED: Marilyn Monroe's Personal Belongings to Be Auctioned — Including Note from Her Father Stanley Gifford

Gifford was proven to be the late screen legend's father via DNA testing, and the discovery will be explored in the upcoming documentary Marilyn, Her Final Secret, according to Variety.

"This card is the only known material artifact that establishes any connection or communication between Gifford and his famous daughter," reads a press release issued last month, when PEOPLE exclusively announced the auction.

Scott Fortner, a Monroe historian/collector and co-host of the All Things Marilyn podcast said he "discovered the card purely by chance" while preparing for the auction.

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"This is the only known documented evidence of a relationship between Monroe and Gifford, which solves the mystery of whether or not she knew or had contact with her biological father," Fortner said last month on the podcast.

The card, which Julien estimated would be sold for $2,000 to $3,000, features art on the front of a little girl standing on a music note, with a handwritten note inside.

Marilyn Monroe's Personal Belongings to Be Auctioned — Including Card from Her Father Stanley Gifford
Marilyn Monroe's Personal Belongings to Be Auctioned — Including Card from Her Father Stanley Gifford

Julien's Auctions Card to Marilyn Monroe from her father, Stanley Gifford

"Dear Marylyn [sic]," Gifford began, before the card's pre-written greeting: "This cheery little get-well note comes specially [sic] to say that lots of thoughts and wishes, too, are with you every day."

"A little prayer too," Gifford ended with his own words before signing the card, "Stanley Gifford, Red Rock Dairy Farm, Hemet, Calif."

Monroe (née Norma Jeane Mortenson) was born to Gladys Pearl Baker and Baker's one-time co-worker Gifford, but infamously did not have a real relationship with her father growing up.

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"It is believed that Gifford did not want to upset his wife and children by allowing Monroe to be part of his life," the press release said of Monroe and Gifford's strained dynamic, noting that he is believed to have hand-delivered the card to Monroe while she was in the hospital.

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Other items in Monroe's collection included several beauty products, including lipstick tubes, false eyelashes and eye shadows that once belonged to the star, as well as several dresses owned and worn by Monroe.