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Lot 21

TRUMAN, HARRY. 1884-1972.
Photograph Signed ("Harry Truman" and "Bess Truman"),

14 October 2020, 13:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$510 inc. premium

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TRUMAN, HARRY. 1884-1972.

Photograph Signed ("Harry Truman" and "Bess Truman"), depicting the President and First Lady on the stairs boarding an airplane, with the printed inscription "Christmas 1946" at the bottom edge of the image.
WITH: Other memorabilia, including a general greeting card from the Truman White House with facsimile signature, menu from a trip to San Francisco in 1948, and a program from the launch of the Pan-Am Clipper American, 1949.

Although the airplane in the photo cannot be positively identified, it is most likely the Douglas VC-54C Skymaster nicknamed Sacred Cow, the first airplane purpose-built to carry the President. First used by Franklin Roosevelt, it was used extensively by Truman in the early years of his Presidency. He signed the National Security Act of 1947 on board, thus establishing the Air Force as a separate branch of service while actually on an airplane. It currently resides in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, OH.

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