This silver saleman’s incentive set, which includes two cufflinks and a matching tiebar in a presentation box, was created by Astro Manufacturing Inc. as a reward for commercial bankers who chose to participate in a space-themed promotion program. The cufflinks and tiebar are made in the distinctive shape of rockets, similar to the small mechanical banks that traditional bricks and mortar commercial banks would have distributed to their customers as premiums. As such, the incentive sets illustrate how commercial entities used the popularity of spaceflight to promote their own products and services.
Astro Manufacturing Inc. was founded by two brothers, John and Steven Berzac, who left Duro Manufacturing, another mechanical bank maker, in 1957. The sets came in 18K gold as well as silver to serve as tiered incentives.
Raymond Reines donated this set to the Museum in 2018.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.