On May 20-21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh literally flew into history when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis, thus becoming the first pilot to fly solo and nonstop from New York to Paris. This flight made Lindbergh a household name and catapulted him into fame and celebrity. The objects of popular culture in the National Collection display everything from ashtrays to wristwatches reflect the public adulation for Lindbergh and the powerful commercial response to his celebrity. More than 75 years after the Spirit's historic flight, Lindbergh's name still has the power help sell manufactured goods.
Gift of the Stanley King Family.
Date: June 18, 1927
Dimensions:
2-D - Unframed (H x W): 29.2 x 21.6cm (11 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.)
Materials:
Paper and fabric
Physical Description:
Program, including the menu, for a dinner held in honor of Lindbergh on June 18, 1927. This program is eight pages bound by fabric, with one additional sheet of sheer liner paper both at the inside front and back of the program. Only the front side of each page has text or an illustration, and each page has a raised border with airplanes in the corners framing the text. The second and the sixth pages have photographs printed on a separate piece of paper and mounted to the larger sheet of paper. Inside the back cover is a map of the North Atlantic Ocean showing Lindbergh's flight route from St. Louis to New York to Paris. The map is printed in blue and pink ink. The front cover is decorated with a raised image of the Spirit of St. Louis and the words "Welcome Home!!" Below this are two raised and embossed medallions, the right one slightly overlapping the left one. The left medallion depicts a plane flying over a cloud-covered globe and the words "Commemorating the first New York Paris flight by Capt. Charles A. Lindbergh 'Spirit of St. Louis' New York May 20th Paris May 21st 1927." The right medallion depicts a woman standing at water's edge between the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. She is holding up a fleur-de-lis in her right hand and a shield with stars and stripes in her left hand. The Spirit of St. Louis plane is flying overhead. A red and a blue stripe run on either side of the medallions.
