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OT: SkyMan is SkyHigh (CAUTION, BIG pics).
SkyMan
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While this has zero to do with coins, it does have to do with historically interesting stuff. I'm a happy camper this morning. There was another auction for space related items yesterday and I was lucky enough to pick up 6 lots. Here are 3 of them that I think are particularly special.
Deke Slayton was one of the original 7 US astronauts, oftentimes called the Mercury 7. Unfortunately for him, the doctors discovered a heart murmer and grounded him before he could fly. He was well respected and eventually became the "Head Honcho" astronaut, deciding which of the new applicants would get accepted to NASA as astronauts and which astronauts would fly which missions. Because of this he was intimately connected with ALL the US manned space missions for the first ~20-25 years of NASA. Eventually, when more became known about the affects of spaceflight, the doctors relented and he was able to fly on the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975.
His widow decided recently to disperse a variety of his collection. Yesterday I was able to pick up two items of his. In 2008 we forget how far behind the Soviet Union the US was in the Space Race in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Nothing in the US Space Program seemed to be working properly. The first Slayton item I picked up was a cartoon given to Slayton done circa 1960. (It is15.5" x 12.5"). It shows the Mercury 7 astronauts as old men, with newspapers scattered around "talking" about different delays in the program. The cool thing about this item is not only does it show the feelings of the times, but all 7 Mercury astronauts signed one of the cartoon characters so that it "became" him.
The second item I got was Slayton's "Turtle Club" pins.
For those of you that don't know what the turtle club was/is take a look at Turtle Club (particularly the section titled "Historical References").
The third item displayed here was handmade by the wives of the earliest Soviet Cosmonauts. It is in the tradition of Soviet political broadsides. It was designed to be mounted or glued to a wall to spread the information about a special occassion, although obviously this one was kept by one of the wives. (It is 13" x 18").
In this case the special occassion was the tenth anniversary (1967) of the launch of Sputnik 1. What makes this literally out of this world is that around the margins the wive's husbands (and in one case, the husband's wife) signed the item. There are signatures from the first 17 Soviet cosmonauts including Gagarin (the first man in space), Tereshkova (the first woman in space), and Leonov (the first man to "walk" in space). FWIW, the signature on the upper right is Gagarin's.
Deke Slayton was one of the original 7 US astronauts, oftentimes called the Mercury 7. Unfortunately for him, the doctors discovered a heart murmer and grounded him before he could fly. He was well respected and eventually became the "Head Honcho" astronaut, deciding which of the new applicants would get accepted to NASA as astronauts and which astronauts would fly which missions. Because of this he was intimately connected with ALL the US manned space missions for the first ~20-25 years of NASA. Eventually, when more became known about the affects of spaceflight, the doctors relented and he was able to fly on the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975.
His widow decided recently to disperse a variety of his collection. Yesterday I was able to pick up two items of his. In 2008 we forget how far behind the Soviet Union the US was in the Space Race in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Nothing in the US Space Program seemed to be working properly. The first Slayton item I picked up was a cartoon given to Slayton done circa 1960. (It is15.5" x 12.5"). It shows the Mercury 7 astronauts as old men, with newspapers scattered around "talking" about different delays in the program. The cool thing about this item is not only does it show the feelings of the times, but all 7 Mercury astronauts signed one of the cartoon characters so that it "became" him.
The second item I got was Slayton's "Turtle Club" pins.
For those of you that don't know what the turtle club was/is take a look at Turtle Club (particularly the section titled "Historical References").
The third item displayed here was handmade by the wives of the earliest Soviet Cosmonauts. It is in the tradition of Soviet political broadsides. It was designed to be mounted or glued to a wall to spread the information about a special occassion, although obviously this one was kept by one of the wives. (It is 13" x 18").
In this case the special occassion was the tenth anniversary (1967) of the launch of Sputnik 1. What makes this literally out of this world is that around the margins the wive's husbands (and in one case, the husband's wife) signed the item. There are signatures from the first 17 Soviet cosmonauts including Gagarin (the first man in space), Tereshkova (the first woman in space), and Leonov (the first man to "walk" in space). FWIW, the signature on the upper right is Gagarin's.
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That cartoon is especially neat IMO. I've always enjoyed cartoons and this one is right up your alley!
If you can post a space flown medal that you bid on, this interesting thread would instantly become coin-related.
Just this morning I heard on the radio about a yearly NASA party at Moffet Field celebrating the first cosmonaut to go into space. Really this party held all around the world but this is the closest one to me.
The name is LEE!
The space related items you have been acquiring are way cool, cooler even than coins.
Thanks for sharing your good fortune with us.
<< <i>Great post. That cartoon is terrific. Congrats.
If you can post a space flown medal that you bid on, this interesting thread would instantly become coin-related.
There were a couple "Manned Flight Awareness" medallions in the auction. Two of them are lots 368 and 369. Here is the link to all the auction lots:
Auction lots
FWIW, I bid on lots 339, 347, 359, 371, 377, 383, 528, 529, 593, 595, 703 and 714. I won 339, 359, 529, 593, 703, and 714. The only one I really wanted that got away was 377.
528 and 529 are essentially the same items. I bid 528 up to $1,550 (pre-sale estimate $1,000 - $1,500), decided to stop, and then won 529 for $775, so needless to say I was quite happy to have won it for essentially 1/2 the price. Also, a couple of days ago when I asked one of the people in the Goldberg's office which of the two lots was visually superior, she thought 529 was.
Well, the Santa Clara show is in town, so now I'm off to see if I can score a coin.
U.S. Type Set
That is simply outstanding. The piece of Soviet history is cool. But the "Turtle Club" Pins for those that were a part of the space program are close to the Holy Grail!!!
By the way, “Are you a Turtle?”
Rob
"Those guys weren't Fathers they were...Mothers."
<< <i>Skyman,...
By the way, “Are you a Turtle?”
As a matter of fact I never was, although I was a "Cardinal" a la Cardinal Puff.
U.S. Type Set