An American flag believed to have been flying over the right front bumper of the presidential limo where John F. Kennedy was assassinated and the president’s personally owned rosary beads are among over 100 items of Kennedy memorabilia that will be auctioned off.
The final round of live online bidding by University Archives in Westport, Connecticut, is happening today and is expected to gross in the $150,000 to $250,000 range.
‘Normally for a sale of this type we have multiple consignors, sometimes as many as 30,’ John M. Reznikoff, founder and president of University Archives, tells DailyMail.com of the June 10 auction. Bids for the items started being taken on several different online auction platforms a couple weeks ago.
‘But the main part of this collection comes from an astute collector from Maryland, amassed over a period of some 40 years, who was forced to sell due to personal circumstances,’ he added.
The Kennedy family’s memorabilia is being auctioned off today by University Archives in Westport, Connecticut. Represented in the sale are intimate items that tell the stories of the former First Family, specifically John, Jacqueline, and John Jr., patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy
A baby gift to John is in Lot 108, going for $300-$400. It’s a three-piece infant clothing set that features a short-sleeve button-down shirt with Peter Pan collar and embroidered train on the left lapel
Also up for grabs is Lot 19 ($4,500-$5,500), Jacqueline Kennedy’s detailed Oleg Cassini ledger of dress fabric samples, including entries made before and after Kennedy’s assassination
Represented in the sale are intimate items that tell the stories of the former First Family, specifically John, Jacqueline, and John Jr., patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy and others, through historical documents, articles of clothing, mementos and relics ranging from JFK’s days as a junior senator, to the White House, and culminating with Dallas.
One lot for sale is 10 pieces of clothing that was sent to the Washington, D.C., home of Pamela Turnure, who was believed to be the mistress of JFK
‘While the flag (Lot 118, $50,000 to $60,000) and rosary beads (Lot 57, $15,000-$17,000) are some of the more valuable items being offered, there are many more interesting lots with lower estimates, like the dinner menu (Lot 60, $1,000-$1,200) from the night Marilyn Monroe serenaded president Kennedy’ on the occasion of his 45th birthday at the Four Seasons in NYC on May 19, 1962,’ Reznikoff points out.
‘It’s a thick cardboard menu with the presidential seal. It’s the only one I’ve ever seen,’ he said.
Printed on the menu of the $1,000-a-head dinner is ‘crabmeat baked in sea shell, chicken broth with spring wheat, medallions of beef glazed in Madeira, herbed carrots’ and ‘woodland mushrooms’ finished off by ‘the presidential birthday cake.’
Items that shed a light on the inner workings of the Kennedy household, and not all on a moral high ground, can be found in a group of receipts that had been part of the archive of the Kennedy family accountant in Lot 62, expected to sell for $300-$400.
One in particular, and the largest valued at $2,500 from Saks Fifth Avenue, is for ’10 pieces’ of clothing that was sent to the Washington, D.C., home of Pamela Turnure.
‘She was purportedly a mistress of JFK,’ says Reznikoff.
In the overview of the receipt(s) posted on the auction house website it states that, ‘Not even the first lady’s staff was immune from the roving eye of the president—and Turnure, a Georgetown girl who was said to resemble Jackie, reportedly trysted with him from 1961 to 1963, beginning when she was 21.’
The description further states that ‘When Jackie was gone, Turnure would reportedly spend nights with the president.’
John F. Kennedy personally owned rosary beads are estimated to sell for $15,000-$17,000
Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ owned & used vintage Halliburton Briefcase, including photographic equipment, is estimated at $1,500 – $1,700
A post card is among more than 100 items for sale at auction
A ticket to President Kennedy’s birthday dinner in 1961 is up for auction
Personal notes and letters of the First Lady from 1969 are included in the sale
Also up for grabs is Lot 19, estimated to go for $4,500-$5,500, Jacqueline Kennedy’s detailed Oleg Cassini ledger of dress fabric samples, including entries made before and after Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963.
During Jackie’s White House years from 1961-1963, Cassini had been her dressmaker.
‘Quite fascinating is that one of the samples sent to her a week before the assassination was a pink material that could have been considered for a Cassini dress for that fateful trip to Dallas,’ says the auctioneer, ‘but it was switched out at the last minute for a pink suit by Chanel.’
That infamous Chanel number, with its black trim, is now in the National Archives, complete with the bloodstains Jackie insisted be left on the garment because ‘I want them to see what they have done to Jack,’ she had been quoted as saying in the aftermath of the assassination.
Post-assassination, the ledger shows that between the dates of December 16, 1963, and January 17, 1964, Jackie’s wardrobe moved from gala clothes to those of eight pairs of sunglasses and dark sweaters.
‘This period reflects the time when Jackie was in mourning, likely crying a lot and, as such, she wanted to shield her eyes from others,’ says Reznikoff.
This framed photo and cigar belonging to JFK is estimated to sell for $700 – $800 at today’s auction
A vintage photo of a young John F. Kennedy Jr. is up for auction today
‘Quite fascinating is that one of the samples sent to her a week before the assassination was a pink material that could have been considered for a Cassini dress for that fateful trip to Dallas,’ says the auctioneer, ‘but it was switched out at the last minute for a pink suit by Chanel’
And with the 21st anniversary of John Kennedy Jr.’s tragic place crash coming up on July 16th, there are a number of items of interest that pertain to his early years. Kennedy and his wife Carolyn, along with her sister Lauren Bessette, all perished when the Piper Saratoga plane John was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
They range from a Nigerian hand carved wood plaque in memory of President Kennedy and his family (Lot 59, $500-$600); receipts for his diapers, circa 1960-61, Lot 74, estimated to sell for $200-$300; a color picture of John-John ‘steering’ a speedboat off the coast of Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1963, taken by JFK’s White House photographer Cecil W. Stoughton in Lot 99 for $200-$300; and a baby gift to Junior—his pale blue bead rosary given to the Kennedys after his birth, in Lot 102, estimated at $3,000-$4,000.
Yet another baby gift to John is Lot 108, $300-$400, a three-piece infant clothing set that features a short-sleeve button-down shirt with Peter Pan collar and embroidered train on the left lapel, a button-down yellow pair of shorts with waterproof plastic lining and a pair of blue and white seersucker shorts, also with waterproof plastic lining.
‘Interest in the Kennedy family comes and goes, but with President Kennedy’s birthday (May 29, 1917—he would have been 103) having just passed I suspect there will be particular interest in the menu from the Marilyn event and the 10 lots that pertain to John Jr., as well, since the the anniversary of his passing is next month,’ says Reznikoff.
‘Bidding starts to get hot and heavy a couple days out and then of course the day of the sale there will be no holding back,’ he added.