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This pendant featuring Wilma Deering, the female lead in the Buck Rogers' comic strips and radio program, was available to fans as a premium sponsored by Cream of Wheat, a hot breakfast cereal. Buck Rogers debuted as a comic strip in 1929. A Sunday strip and a radio program followed. The children's fan group for Buck Rogers was known as the Solar Scouts. This pendant features the message "To my pal in the Solar Scouts" on the reverse.

The existence of a pendant shows that both girls and boys were fans of the early space adventure.

Mail in a cereal box top or a metal strip (like those from tins of Cocomalt, a Buck Rogers radio sponsor) with a little money, and you would receive a token of your special relationship with a space-faring hero. Or you could join a fan club run by a newspaper or radio station. Premiums also included toys, maps, and books.

Collector Michael O'Harro donated this pendant to the Museum in 1993.

 Display Status

This object is on display in James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type MEMORABILIA-Popular Culture Manufacturer Unknown
 Dimensions 3-D: 1 x 2.5cm (3/8 x 1 in.)
 Materials Overall, probably brass
 Inventory Number A19970932000 Credit Line Gift of Michael O'Harro, Copyright probably Robert C. Dille Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.