SERIES 5: EPHEMERA Boxes 20 - 32; 17 framed items
Browse the Ephemera collection
The thirteen cubic feet of materials within the Ephemera Series date from 1938 to 2004, though most of the items date from the 1970s to the 1990s. The series contains a large number of miscellaneous paper-based items pertaining to all aspects of John Glenn's various careers and to the activities of Annie Glenn. The arrangement of the series is by type into the ten categories of campaign, greeting cards, invitations, membership cards, miscellaneous, name tags, postcards, programs, stickers, and stamps. The arrangement within each category is alphabetically by folder heading, except for the campaign materials, for which the arrangement is chronological. Also arranged in chronological order are the commemorative stamp albums contained within the stamps category.
The campaign ephemera contain examples of the stationery, brochures, newsletters, issue statements, palm cards, and bumper stickers produced during Glenn's six election campaigns for the U.S. Senate. Also included are materials from his 1984 presidential campaign and a "Dukakis-Glenn" bumper sticker reflecting the consideration of Glenn as the Democratic Party's vice-presidential nominee in the 1988 presidential campaign. Housed in Box 32 are oversized posters from most of Glenn's political campaigns.
The series contains a small sampling of greeting cards received by John and Annie Glenn from 1992 to 2002. Included are holiday cards and birthday cards sent to John Glenn, along with a few examples of the holiday cards sent by the Glenns during the 1990s. Also included are some holiday cards sent to the Glenns from the White House dating from the 1970s and 1980s. Of special note are some large, handmade valentines and holiday cards, dating from the 1960s to the 1990s, created by Ethel Kennedy, the wife of Robert Kennedy.
Most of the invitations in the series pertain to state dinners and similar events at the White House and other venues attended by Glenn during his career in the U.S. Senate. These events include presidential inaugurations, treaty signings, and dinners held in honor of foreign dignitaries. Also included is a series of invitations sent to Annie Glenn for luncheons sponsored by the Ladies of the Senate organization and for other events hosted by First Ladies Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, and Hillary Clinton.
The small number of membership cards in the series pertain primarily to various military and aviation organizations in which Glenn was a member. These organizations include the Explorers' Club, the Association of Naval Aviation, the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and the Early and Pioneer Naval Aviators Association.
The miscellaneous category contains various materials that do not fit readily into the other nine categories. Included are examples of Glenn's personal stationery and business cards and mementos from his childhood, such as a photocopy of the "Kars Kleaned Kwickly…" classified newspaper advertisement he took out as a teenager and an invoice pad from the Glenn Plumbing Company. Other mementos date from the Project Mercury era and include a kids menu in the form of a spaceman mask with meals named after the Mercury astronauts; napkins, placemats, and a ticket from the homecoming parade for Glenn held in New Concord, Ohio on March 3, 1962; Project Mercury trading cards; and Glenn's "receipt" for the Friendship 7 spacecraft.
The name tags in the series include Glenn's identification badges for various NASA mission launches and other events. Other name tags date from events Glenn attended as a U.S. Senator, such as visits to the United Nations and NATO, as well as his delegate badges from several Democratic Party conventions.
The postcards include a few cards with images of Glenn's boyhood homes in Cambridge and New Concord, Ohio. Other postcards pertain to Glenn's NASA career and include items from his original assignment with Project Mercury and from his return to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998.
The programs include items from a wide variety of events Glenn attended or participated in, ranging from the Cleveland National Air Races in 1938 to the opening ceremonies for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games held in Salt Lake City. Many of the programs are from events honoring Glenn, such as the Aviation Hall of Fame Enshrinement in 1976, the presentation of the first Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978, the Goddard Memorial Trophy Dinner in 1999, and the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Awards in 2002.
Most of the stickers in the series are from the various NASA programs and experiments pertaining to or performed during the Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-95. Other stickers in the collection include one with the logo of the Friendship 7 space flight and a few pertaining to U.S. Marine Corps aviation.
Contained within the Ephemera Series are numerous stamps, commemorative covers, and first day issue covers collected by Glenn during his NASA career and during his four terms in the U.S. Senate. Included are an extensive number of covers with a variety of cachets for the Project Mercury stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service on February 20, 1962, the day of the Friendship 7 space flight. Also included are stamps from many foreign countries released to commemorate either Glenn's space flight or the space flights made by other American astronauts and by various Soviet cosmonauts.
During his Senate career Glenn was a member and for a time, chairman, of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. This committee holds the oversight responsibilities for the operation of the U.S. Postal Service. As a committee member Glenn collected approximately two hundred commemorative stamp albums dating from the 1980s and 1990s sent to him by the U.S. Postmaster General. Embossed on the cover with Senator Glenn's name, most of the albums contain a first day issue cover and either a plate block or a pane of the newly issued stamp. Many albums also contain information printed by the Postal Service about the stamp.
Also included in the series are eleven oversized, framed and matted items containing first day covers, plate block sets of stamps, or panes of stamps commemorating either John Glenn's Friendship 7 space flight, his flight aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, the Project Mercury space program, or other NASA programs.