SOLD Signed Ticker Tape From John Glenn’s Parade in New York in 1962
Obtained from a man who attended the parade.
His space flight aboard Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962 came at a time of increased Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Berlin Wall was built during the year prior to the launch and soon the Cuban missile crisis would follow.
The Soviets had shocked the...
His space flight aboard Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962 came at a time of increased Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Berlin Wall was built during the year prior to the launch and soon the Cuban missile crisis would follow.
The Soviets had shocked the world in October 1957 by launching the first orbital satellite, Sputnik 1, and furthered their lead in space technology when, on April 12, 1961, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the earth. Expectations in the U.S., therefore, were high as NASA attempted to place the first American in orbit. The launch of Friendship 7 was broadcast live on television all around the world, and the success of its flight sent the nation into a patriotic fervor and made Glenn an instant hero.
The nation celebrated on a scale not seen since Charles Lindbergh’s solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1927. The level of public enthusiasm was illustrated vividly in New York City when, on March 1, 1962, it gave a ticker tape parade. An estimated four million people turned out in frigid temperatures to cheer John and Annie Glenn as they rode in an open automobile with Vice President Johnson in the procession down Broadway – temporarily named Astronaut Way for the event. Thirty-five hundred tons of paper were showered along the parade route in what turned out to be the biggest ticker tape parade in the city’s history.
The motorcade stopped shortly after noon at City Hall, where Glenn gave a brief speech to a cheering crowd. It then proceeded to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel where Glenn received the city’s Medal of Honor at a luncheon held for the Mercury 7 astronauts. We offer a few feet of the actual ticket tape from that 1962 New York Ticker Tape Parade, a portion of which contains stock prices with the balance reading “Welcome Colonel Glenn.”
The man who picked up the tape at the time (and from whom we obtained it) later sent it to Glenn, who signed it under the text welcoming him. The original envelope from Glenn’s U.S. Senate office returning the signed tape is included.
Frame, Display, Preserve
Each frame is custom constructed, using only proper museum archival materials. This includes:The finest frames, tailored to match the document you have chosen. These can period style, antiqued, gilded, wood, etc. Fabric mats, including silk and satin, as well as museum mat board with hand painted bevels. Attachment of the document to the matting to ensure its protection. This "hinging" is done according to archival standards. Protective "glass," or Tru Vue Optium Acrylic glazing, which is shatter resistant, 99% UV protective, and anti-reflective. You benefit from our decades of experience in designing and creating beautiful, compelling, and protective framed historical documents.
Learn more about our Framing Services