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John F. Kennedy's Bomber Jacket

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:150,000.00 - 200,000.00 USD
John F. Kennedy's Bomber Jacket

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Auction Date:2018 Nov 07 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : 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
President John F. Kennedy's dark brown leather G-1 Bomber jacket manufactured by L. W. Foster Sportswear for the USN Bureau of Aeronautics, size 44, with front flap pockets, fur collar, wool ribbed knit cuffs and waistband, and left chest bearing an embroidered patch of the presidential seal. The lower portion of the interior zipper lining perforated with “USN,” and the manufacturer tag issued as “Contract No. DA-36-243-QM (CTM) 2134.” President Kennedy had this handsome jacket tailored to fit his frame prior to its purchase in December 1962. In fine condition, with expected wear from use. From the family estate of Henry E. Hirschy.

Includes the original official invoice from the US Navy Department of Finance, dated December 5, 1962, noting that this jacket was purchased with a group of three identical jackets, each intended for President Kennedy. The bill of sale, with docketing in the hand of Lt. Henry E. Hirschy, a military aide to President Kennedy, reads: “Break down: $11.00—2 White House Service Badges—Lost at camp—Mr. Brean turned money in / 23.05—1 Flight Jacket sold to Agent Robert Foster, USSS / 69.15—3 Flight jackets sold to Pres US, 103.20.” Signed with his initial at the conclusion by Hirschy, with a central stamp denoting full payment. The invoice indicates that four flight jackets were purchased—three for President Kennedy, and one for Agent Robert Foster, a Secret Service agent tasked with protecting the Kennedy children. Based on photos of Foster, the agent’s wide build would have required larger than a size 44 jacket.

Of the three jackets ordered by Kennedy, two were later recovered after his assassination and identified on the included notebook page penned in the hand of Hirschy, dated November 27, 1963. The page lists the recovered personal clothing of JFK only five days after his death, and features additional comments made by Hirschy, who notes that two “Size 44” flight jackets were recovered from the "Honey Fitz.” Hirschy was a Supply and Logistics Officer for the Military Aides to the President and Officer-in-Charge of the Navy Mess in the White House during both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. His duties also included taking care of the President’s needs on overseas trips, aboard the presidential yachts, and at Camp David. Includes a letter of provenance from relative Priscilla Hirschy, who affirms that Kennedy’s jacket “comes directly from the family of Lieutenant Henry E. Hirschy, Jr. SC United States Navy.”

Accompaniments include: two color photos, 8 x 10 and 10 x 8, depicting Kennedy wearing a similar jacket while on board his yacht, with an inscription on the reverse of one stating "President John F. Kennedy, on board the U.S.C.G. sloop Manitou, Sunday, 12 Aug 1962—Near Johns Island, Maine”; the official White House ID card for Lt. Hirschy; a White House Staff Pass for Hirschy, date of issue "5 Sept 63" with an expiration date of "15 Nov 63," days before the JFK assassination; and Hirschy's White House parking permit issued by the US Department of the Interior, dated "12/1/1962." Bolstered by provenance dating to a year before, and immediately after, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, this remarkable bomber jacket—one of three known extant—represents a unique piece of presidential memorabilia, one symbolic of JFK’s own self-assured fashion and his fiercely proud sense of duty and patriotism.