53 years ago today ...

BillJones

... John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

It was a Friday, and I was in the 9th grade just getting out of gym class, looking forward to weekend away from school when I heard the news. My mother was ready to take me to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware where I was taking piano lessons from teacher who taught out of her house.

When I heard the news I couldn't believe that he would die. Modern medicine could do wonders, right? As an 14 year old, death had only touched me a time or two with the passing of distant cousin of my mother and some people in the town.

As we drove home from Rehoboth to our farm, which was just outside of Milton, Delaware, his death was confirmed.

The next day our high school had an exhibition football game scheduled with Rehoboth Beach. The school was trying to get back into football after dropping out of local conference years ago because too many injuries and too few players. Just about every sports team in the nation canceled its game for that sad Saturday, but not Milton. It was raining and school band director used that as an excuse to cancel the planned half time show. We played hymns under the cover of athletic ticket office.

The head football coach was an alcoholic, and he was thoroughly tanked for that game. He was abusive to the officials and drew a couple of penalty flags as a result. My father took me home after half time, so I didn't see the end when he had to be restrained from taking a punch at the referee. Needless to say, he was fired that weekend.

Monday was the day of funeral. I remember hearing the muffled drum corps has they pounded out the sad cadence. I remember seeing Jackie Kennedy on our black and white TV and how she bore up so well under the circumstances.

Here are a couple of JFK items from my collection.

This is an usual piece. It is a button from the 1956 Democratic Convention when JFK ran for vice president. The Democratic nominee, Adlai Stevenson, had thrown the slection of a running mate open to the convention. There was a scramble among a number of young Democrats, including Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Robert Wagner, Jr., and Al Gore, Sr. for the nomination. There are buttons known for Kennedy and Humphrey. This Kennedy mentions his Pulizer Prize winning book, Profiles in Courage.

And here a button that reflected the virgorous image of the Kennedy presidential campaign.

An finally something numismatic, the Kennedy inaugural medal in silver. This marked the first time that the Inaugural Committee really pushed the sale of silver inaugural medals. The mintage of this was 7,500 pieces, and it still sells for somewhere around its melt value today.

Walkerfan

Thanks, Bill, for sharing your personal experiences and numismatic items from that sad, terrible day in Dallas 1963.....

1630Boston

Nice to revisit US History. Thanks

chumley

I was 11 and attending Catholic school.Two nuns came into the class,crying...finally told us the president had been shot.School was dismissed and I cried all the way home.My family spent the next 3 days glued to the tv

Justacommeman

My brother was born in May of 1964. He was named John like like so many others that year. He was supposed to be Matthew.

Great account Bill and I especially love the button.

mark

AMRC

I was 3 years old, and remember exactly where I was, staring outside of the window at my Mother's house when I heard the news. I remember her crying on the Sofa. I knew something in the world had significantly changed at that moment.

johnny9434

I was 3 also at the time. they cancelled school for the day (older bro) closed business and the sorts. a very sad day indeed.

SanctionII

I was 7 years old and in second grade. I remember my parents being distraught. I was very upset myself and watched the media reports of events on television with my parents. My recollection is that my older sister did not pay much attention to the media coverage and wanted to do other things, including going outside and playing. It may have been that she just had no interest, or that it was her way to cope with the death of President Kennedy.

I did not remember the anniversary until i saw this thread. Sadly it will become less and less of an event to remember in the coming years.

Watch what little coverage of the Pearly Harbor 12-7-2016 anniversary will have this year (same with the anniversary of D-Day and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

Funny thing about JFK is that if he ran for office today he would not find success in the Democratic party as it has evolved to a party that is much different today than in 1960.

Boosibri

Nice write-up and post

BillJones

John Kennedy was known as the handsome, charismatic presidential candidate and president. Yet it was possible to take an unflattering picture of him and even use it on a button. This picture appeared on two varieties of Kennedy buttons. This is the small sized "economy" version, of the "bug eyed portrait."

I'm not up on political button prices, but a few years ago this one sold for $25 to $35 while the larger one was priced at $75 to $85.

bestday

Shame this barely mentioned any more .. started tumultuous 11 years in America

grip

grip

grip

grip

joeykoins

Nice mention! Yes, It was a terrible date in America History. I was 6. My parents were very saddened. I was too young to feel the real effect, but not too young to forget. Unfortunately, this is what it takes for our country to all truly get together in an agreeable bond. such as, what happened in Hawaii, at Pearl Harbor and of course, 911. Does it always have to be a disaster in America to become as " One Nation Under God..."? -joey

BillJones

The 1960 presidential election was the first one that grabbed my interest. This is button I wore when I went to political meetings and events with my parents. It ended up in a jewelry box at home so that's why it was saved. It was the first piece I placed in my collection.

"COPE" is the political arm of the AF of L - CIO. That year they supported Kennedy, but the opposed the Democratic Delaware senator, Alan Freer. He had foolished told the union guys where to go when they lobbied him in Washington. He lost to Calib Boggs in 1960. In 1972 Boggs was voted out of office in favor of Joe Biden who held the sent until he became vice president.

This second button is a Kennedy classic. A crediable copy has been made of this. They sell it at the Kennedy Library, but at least that one is marked "COPY." Yes the political collectors have the same problems that we do. The "real thing" is not an expensive rarity.

yosclimber

I was in first grade. Our teacher came into the class and told us the news.
I remember saying "It's a good thing, because my dad's a Republican."
She explained that he was everyone's president once elected.
Oops.

My aunt worked on his campaign and had a lot of campaign stuff like hats in her room for years after.

Elcontador

I was in 7th grade and head it over the loudspeaker in homeroom class.
It was the middle of the Cold War, and and we were taught - and the media played this up in a big way - this was a fight between good (us) and evil (the USSR, which was, as history has shown, quite evil).
The President was a God-like figure to us kids. It's hard to explain to people who haven't lived it. It was like a parent of each and every one of us was shot. Everyone was shocked. Except for some people crying, you otherwise could have heard a pin drop. You could have been twelve years old or sixty-two years old. We all knew that our world was turned upside down that day.

joeykoins

@grip said:

I would bet that this photo is one of Caroline's favorite!

BigMoose

I remember that day very well. I was in 2nd grade and the nuns from my Catholic school sent us home at around noon, telling us only that something terrible that happened. I found out from mom after I walked home. I was still too young to fully comprehend the magnitude of this event. We were glued to the TV that weekend. In fact, my dad and I watched live as Jack Ruby shot Oswald. Thus spawning the myriad of conspiracy theories.

epcjimi1

@joeykoins said:

@grip said:

I would bet that this photo is one of Caroline's favorite!

First grade, after lunch, back in the classroom, Miss Atkinson came in crying, school was called, we were lined up in the hallway for dismissal and sent home.

Great pic of the first family.

BillJones

We were glued to the TV that weekend. In fact, my dad and I watched live as Jack Ruby shot Oswald. Thus spawning the myriad of conspiracy theories.

I was watching TV live when Ruby shot Oswald too. I immediately went to my mother and told her what I'd seen. She couldn't believe it.

Two points -
First, Ruby didn't do us any favors when he shot Oswald. Ruby's shady reputation and mob connections didn't help the situation. What did Oswald mean, when he called himself, "a patsy?" We will never know.

Second, I still can't believe how stupid and incompetent the Dallas Police Force was at that time. Those clowns couldn't even keep a high profile murder suspect alive.

grip

I was 22 and it seems like yesterday. I really admired that Kennedy family.

coinnut

I was 13 at the time and was walking home from Junior High when a classmate came up and told me the news. I always wished I had not passed up the chance to hear him speak at the University of Maine the month before.

rainbowroosie

I was in Freshman Latin class at Boston College HS. The announcement was simply "The President has been shot." We all were dismissed. My dad had ties to JFK and he had been in our house during an earlier campaign. The city was a total mess. Coincidently, the JFK Library is now located just behind BC High, on the site of the old Colombia Point Projects. I'll stop here before I make some regretful political comment comparing then and now.

AUandAG

Mr. Bill, funny but I was playing the piano (I skipped school that day) in prep for my piano lessen later in the day. I called the school to tell them the news but they already knew. But, I did get caught for skipping due to the phone call. Stupid me.

His wife Jackie was a class act. He, not so much.

bob:)

BillJones

There were couple of campaign buttons for Jackie in 1960. Here is one of them.

Jackie came close to divorcing him in 1958 because of his infidelities.

The first potential First Lady who was mentioned on a poltical piece was John C. Fremont's wife Jessie Hart Benton Fremont on an 1856 medalet. Fremont is pictured with the phrase "Jessie's Choice" under his portrait.

Grover Cleveland's wife, who was 26 years his junior was very popular with the electorate. She was mentioned several times on medals and one picture button.

Cameonut

I also remember the day very well. I was in 4th grade and they let us go home early - but didn't tell us why.

I recall watching all the subsequent events on TV.

A sad day for the nation as we lost a great leader.

RockyMtnProspector

I was still 15 years away, so I really appreciate the first-hand recounting of whereabouts and feelings on that day.

I can say as someone who frequents estate sales for a variety of other collectibles for the past several years, that Kennedy memorabilia is such a common subject that it is surprising when a house/decedent from that era does NOT have a magazine, book, pin, photo, or some other ephemeral item from that week, or some other item commemorating President Kennedy from ensuing years, ranging from items like the medal or Kennedy halves to the kitsch.

I enjoyed and appreciated the museum at the Kennedy Library in Massachusetts, with its wonderful setting and extensive collection.

And yes, both my parents can recount down to the very last detail what they were doing and where they were when the news arrived in Denver.

cmerlo1

Besides being a Morgan Dollar VAM enthusiast/collector, my buddy Harry Cabluck is also a retired AP photographer. He worked for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1963 and covered the breakfast at the Hotel Texas, the arrival at Love Field, and was in the motorcade on the press bus. He heard the shots and snapped a few images of the aftermath as the bus rode through, and ultimately ended up at Parkland Hospital. He goes to shows with me (see my post about the B. Max Mehl check he gave me), and hearing him tell the story of that day is fascinating. The top image is a group of photos he took that day. The bottom image is of Harry at the Hotel Texas shooting the photo you see in the top right corner of the top image. He's to the left of the center of the image, above the crowd wearing a black raincoat and looking down at his camera. The image was taken by his brother, who was also a photographer covering the Kennedy visit to Ft. Worth.

Spkrmakr

No comment.

jmski52

I remember the 1960 election and some of the debates. Nixon had an aftergrowth beard that made him look somewhat sinister on TV and Kennedy was young and vibrant. JFK was an actual war hero which is different than some of the war heroes that we've been force fed in recent years.

Both Nixon and Kennedy were respectable debaters, unlike what we see in presidential debates today. They actually debated issues without using just 15 second sound bites. JFK was also Catholic and there was discussion about that because there had never been a Catholic president. The election night coverage was drawn out into the late hours and we all had to go to bed before the final results were known. A side note, back then the Republicans were "blue" and Democrats were "red". I think this was changed by the media in 1968 or so for whatever reason.

After the election, there was an outcry that the Chicago vote was rigged by John Daley's corrupt political machine which swung the election. Even MAD Magazine got into the act, publishing a cover that declared Nixon the winner on one side, but if you flipped it over it declared Kennedy the winner on the flip side.

As the youngest president, John Kennedy set the tone of American optimism and strength for his 1,000 days in office. He stood down Kruschev during the Cuban Missile Crisis and I can tell you that it was a very tense 13 days or so. He pushed schools to emphasize physical fitness and started the Punt, Pass & Kick program. Our school was building a new addition that was delayed during a strike by the steelworkers and Kennedy put enough pressure on the unions to end the strike and our school was finished. He sent the first advisors to Vietnam. Marilyn Monroe sang Happy Birthday Mr. President to him and Jackie was absent that day. Hmmm.

I remember Nov. 22, 1963 because it was my birthday. Initially there was shock & disbelief. Two days later, Jack Ruby shot Oswald and the next day after that was the horse-drawn casket. Then, the eternal flame on his grave in Arlington National Cemetery.

I bought two of the coins when they first came out. The bank was limiting purchases to 1 per customer, but I talked a friend into buying another one for me and I paid him 55 cents. I think that was the first coin premium I ever paid, except for the 1909 Lincoln in Good that I had bought for 25 cents a year earlier.

A few years ago, I visited Dealey Plaza. I'm struck by how small the area really is. Regardless of where the shots came from, it was like a goldfish bowl. I walked behind the stockade fence and it's just a parking lot with a few potholes. Over the years, some of the stockade fence has had to be replaced when people take sections from it.

I walked around in the street where he was hit and in the triangle across from the grassy knoll. There's still a bullet scar in the concrete down by the railroad trestle near the entrance to the freeway. The whole area might fit into about 1/2 of a football field. If you ever visit, there are street vendors selling some documentation, some of which is very good. Some of them are typical scammers.

The Warren Commission was a farce and both Gerald Ford & Arlan Specter should have been ashamed to put their names on it. The Report on Assassinations that came out in 1978 was a little better, but without the Magruder film, we would never have known anything but government propaganda.

He was my President, and we'll probably never know the whole story. American History is very interesting.

coinkat

TR was the youngest President

Kennedy was the youngest directly elected to the office of President

1960 was an amazing election year...And it was not just the November outcome, but Kennedy was nominated on the first ballot narrowly surviving the late challenge of Adlai Stevenson at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. Eugene McCarthy nominated Stevenson in a dramatic moment that nearly unravelled all the carefully planned and hard fought Kennedy victories in the primaries. It all came down to Wyoming... The last state in the roll call that put Kennedy over the top.

Lakesammman

Bill:

Thanks for the reminder!

Was in 3rd grade - we stood and sang the National Anthem and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Was too young to really understand the gravity of the situation.

Was close to my maternal grandfather who thought Joe Kennedy was a rum runner and the Kennedy fortune ill-gotten gains. Needless to say, he voted for Nixon.

PipestonePete

Some autographed items from ...JFK's official White House photographer Cecil Stoughton, Secret Service Agent Clint Hill, and Detective James Leavelle.

thebeav

@BigMoose said:
In fact, my dad and I watched live as Jack Ruby shot Oswald.

My brother and I were watching as this happened also .......

rainbowroosie

The Ruby shooting was bizarre. A surreal moment in US history for anyone who watched it. The only other moment I felt the same way was when the second airplane hit the WTT.

dpoole

I was actually in a Catholic seminary with the Maryknoll order in Glen Ellen, Illinois.

We were at lunch in the refectory, when the rector announced to us that Kennedy had been shot. We all had chore assignments, and at the time I was assigned to wash walls with a tall skinny guy and a short Hispanic guy, whose names I do not recall. They went about their job dutifully, while I check out to watch Walter Cronkite walk us through the crisis, until the memorable on-television scene when he removed his glasses and told us the president was dead.

BTW, I left the seminary a month or so later, not because of this, but because I was still in love with my ex-girlfriend.

logger7

I was only a few years old then, no memories of the day. My father was picked up with a Navy buddy during WWII by Joe Kennedy as they were heading back to the Naval base who said his son was serving in the Pacific. I've delved into the conspiracy literature of which there are hundreds of books, have read a dozen or so myself. A great mystery!

tychojoe

I was born just after the JFK era ended. I appreciated Bill's narratives, and the recollections posted! One of my earliest numismatic recollections is the JFK profile counterstamped on the Lincoln cent, attached to a card noting odd things they had in common. Does anybody remember when those came out? My recollection might be from the early 70's like maybe 1972, but I'll bet they (the counterstamped coins on a card) had been around a long time before that.

BillJones

@tychojoe said:
I was born just after the JFK era ended. I appreciated Bill's narratives, and the recollections posted! One of my earliest numismatic recollections is the JFK profile counterstamped on the Lincoln cent, attached to a card noting odd things they had in common. Does anybody remember when those came out? My recollection might be from the early 70's like maybe 1972, but I'll bet they (the counterstamped coins on a card) had been around a long time before that.

The "strange but true" aspects of the Lincoln and Kennedy presidencies were pointed out not long after the Kennedy murder were appearing on cards and the like at least by 1965. The "Kennedy facing Lincoln" counterstamped cents were on sale by 1965. Those things used to crop up in non collector accumulations that I have seen.

grip

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=counter+stamp+lincoln+cent+with+kennedy&biw=1120&bih=622&tbm=isch&imgil=o5SCoEmBnVv07M%3A%3B3rIBaso6ZgVy5M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flincolncentsonline.com%252Fpmd.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=o5SCoEmBnVv07M%3A%2C3rIBaso6ZgVy5M%2C_&usg=__yMlH3gEbTJWnzPKwYjMITfEEaq4=&ved=0ahUKEwiuovm2y8HQAhWHw1QKHQYSBUEQyjcIJw&ei=Svc2WK7VJYeH0wKGpJSIBA#imgrc=o5SCoEmBnVv07M:

Lincoln and Kennedy cent.

tychojoe

Bill - thanks for your reply. That little fact I requested was not turned up in any of the brief searches of my question online!

By the way, since I joined the forum in 2006, probably every comment or thread of yours that I've read has educated me, or given me images of great coins (not just coins) to appreciate, or both.

We're so lucky to have a forum that attracts so many thoughtful life-long numismatists like you who freely share their wealth of knowledge and treasury of collectibles. Of course it's nice to get a lead on a trivia question like mine from someone who knows first-hand. But I'm really trying to address the even nicer and truly astonishing thing - the community of the whole forum, and the every-day specialists who make it great for newcomers - like I once was - and small-scale collectors - like I am today - to read and sometimes post. I love the history, the art, the value in a small thing well preserved, the advice and anecdotes from long-time collectors, the humor, the insight, and I guess especially the photos! And BillJones is one of those (many) members who especially exemplifies that to me.

Post-Script: Thanks, grip! For what it's worth, I did do a search before I posted and got many of the same hits that you did in your google query for me. None that I previewed or visited actually had the info Bill had. Nor, after the fact, does "when did the first kennedy facing lincoln counterstamp cent appear". So it was really cool to come back to the forum a bit later and see the answer!

DIMEMAN

I remember that day very well also. I was in 10th grade and in PE. A lot of memories about that weekend. What I remember most was John Jr. standing there saluting.....now he is gone too. I don't think Oswald was the only shooter. There was someone in the front. Your head just doesn't fly backwards from being hit from behind. The Warren Comm. was a joke.

jesbroken

I remember well where I was. Atlanta, Ga with my father who had a business appointment and I attended the movie Palm Springs Weekend. We all thought the ticker tape across the bottom was part of the movie until the second time it ran. I then went to the concession stand to see what it was about and found everyone, men and women, young and old, crying and sobbing(some hysterically). I left the theatre and returned to our hotel and found my father coming in just as I arrived. Such a tradegy for all. Little John-John, so mature and calm, standing as his father passed him and his family. Wow. What a memory.
Very nice medal, Bill. Thanks for sharing.
Jim

nwcoast

My fathers was JFK's doc on the Cape when his primary physician was out of town or not available. Among his belongings are many items and articles, as well as medical items- which HIPPA laws have restricted sharing of...
Did snap this quick pic from the file though.

bigmarty58

I was only five years old and do not remember to much about that day. As we look back, it seemed like a turning point in our countries history. Gone was the innocence that permeated our lives, opening an era of less trust in our government and institutions.

1630Boston

Belated post.
I was searching the basement for an old photo for another thread and came upon this newspaper.