USA: memorablia from his private and professional life will be up for auction in New York City

Record ID: 692063

  • Title: USA: memorablia from his private and professional life will be up for auction in New York City
  • Date: 12th November 2005
  • Summary: DALLAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 22, 1963) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VIEW FROM CAR BEHIND KENNEDY'S CAR OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CAR AND THE STREETS OF DALLAS UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, UNITED STATES (FILE) VARIOUS OF KENNEDY SIGNING PAPERS
  • Embargoed: 27th November 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: People
  • Reuters ID: LVACJTVC88KJ7PSM9NKMFK3945IY
  • Story Text: A treasure-trove of John F. Kennedy memorabilia will be auctioned next month ranging from the watch he wore to his 1961 presidential inauguration to his doodles he scribbled during talks on the Cuban missile crisis. The private collection of Robert White, who began collecting Kennedy artifacts in the 1950s, represents most of the nearly 2,000 items that will be put up for sale from December 15 to 17 at Guernsey's auctioneers in New York. The range of material covers JFK's entire live, from childhood to his marriage to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, his early political aspirations to his successes as a Congressman, Senator and finally as President. White, a cleaning supplies salesman, collected pins, posters and other materials during Kennedy's years as a congressman and senator from Massachusetts and began a correspondence with Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, after Kennedy reached the White House. Lincoln, who worked for Kennedy during most of his political career, became good friends with White and when she died in 1995, she bequeathed her collection of Kennedy material to him. White died in 2003 and his estate is selling off the collection. There have been several Kennedy memorabilia auctions before, but Arlan Ettinger, President of auction house Guernsey's explained how this auction if different. Said Ettinger, "The difference between this sale and those (earlier ones) is that this has thousands of lots, far larger that really encompasses John F. Kennedy's entire life, from his birth in the form of his christening ring and christening robe, to sadly his death, with the flags that flew from limousine and many other objects relating to the assassination, the whole Kennedy saga." Items up for auction include a red, white and blue "hotline" telephone, two of Kennedy's White House rocking chairs, his monogrammed leather wallet, and clothing that belonged to him and his wife, Jacqueline. Among other special lots are the flags that flew from the presidential limousine on November 22, 1963, in Dallas when Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy's sailboat, Flash II, will also be up for sale. Ettinger insists that the public still has an insatiable appetite for all things Kennedy related. Said Ettinger, "Certainly, there doesn't seem at least at this point to be any reduction of interest in their lives as evidenced by the outpouring of interest in this auction and it's not just from people who well remember the Kennedys back in the 1950s and 60s but we're getting contacted from people who weren't even born then." Hundreds of unpublished White House and family photographs will be offered along with ephemera ranging from presidential "doodles" to the handwritten speech that Kennedy, then a senator, gave at the 1956 Democratic National Convention when he nominated Adlai Stevenson for president. Ettinger also explained how this Kennedy auction is different in terms of how it will not have a preset minimum, which means even low bids will succeed if they are the only one for that item. He said, "Most auctions today, most major auctions are filled with items that have preset minimums known as reserves. This auction - its thousands of lots, does not have that, which is to say simply put that the top bid in each instance will be a successful bid. So that although some things may go for significant amounts, hundreds of thousands of dollars, even perhaps one or two at a million dollars or more, they'll be many lots that will go for affordable prices again because there are no preset minimums." About 300 items will also be auctioned in "real time" on eBay Live auctions for those unable to attend the auction in New York.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register