5046

Guenter Wendt’s Trout Plaque Presented by Collins at Apollo 11 Launch

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:5,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Guenter Wendt’s Trout Plaque Presented by Collins at Apollo 11 Launch

Bidding Over

The auction is over for this lot.
The auctioneer wasn't accepting online bids for this lot.

Contact the auctioneer for information on the auction results.

Search for other lots to bid on...
Auction Date:2015 Jun 25 @ 13:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Certainly one-of-a-kind taxidermied trout, measuring 9.5? long and mounted on a 11.5 x 7.25 plaque, signed and described on the reverse in black felt tip by Wendt, “Sandy. This trout was given to me by Mike Collins in the White Room on the day Apollo 11 started to the moon. 1969, 7-16. Guenter F. Wendt AS-506 Padleader.” Affixed to the front are two labels, “Guenter Wendt” and “Trophy Trout.” In fine condition, with rippling to labels on the front.

Arguably the most unusual of the traditional 'gag' gifts exchanged between astronauts and Wendt as they boarded the spacecraft, Michael Collins describes this gift in his his autobiography Carrying the Fire: 'There are certain amenities to be observed, such as presenting Guenter Wendt, the czar of the launch pad, with a going-away present. Guenter has spent the past couple of weeks telling me what a great fisherman he is, and how he regularly plucks giant trout from the ocean. In return, I have located the smallest trout to be found in these parts, a minnow really, and have had it, uncured, nailed to a plaque…I carry it now in a brown paper shopping bag…Neil has entered the spacecraft, and I am next…When Neil gets in, I give the trout to Guenter and his crew, and they frolic around a bit.' As a supremely well-documented gag gift given to Wendt by Collins immediately before entering the Apollo 11 spacecraft, this is an unquestionably unique and interesting piece.