Presidents’ Rocking Chair Up for Sale

0

An unquestionably important piece of Americana is up for sale.

Nate D. Sanders Auctions, a Los Angeles auction house that specializes in sports, historical and Hollywood memorabilia, announced Monday that a wooden rocking chair used by Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Dwight D. Eisenhower, is being auctioned off on Thursday. Minimum bid: $70,000.

“You’ve seen many photos of Kennedy relaxing in the chair,” said Sam Heller, a spokesman for the auction house. “It became such an icon you’ve seen replicas of the chair including at the Kennedy Center in Boston, so this is an exciting opportunity for a collector to own White House history.”

The solid oak chair was personally given by Johnson to White House staff photographer George J. Szabo, who worked in the White House from 1956-1980.

In previous auctions, President Kennedy’s other rocking chairs have sold for as much as $500,000. But the chair is not the only presidential treasure up for sale.

A signed Senate identification card used by Kennedy while serving as junior senator for Massachusetts is up for sale for a minimum bid of $25,000, while bidding for one of JFK’s Senate business cards and a monogrammed case begins at $12,500.

One of the most expensive items sold by Sanders Auctions in the past was the original Oscar awarded to Orson Welles for writing “Citizen Kane.” It sold for more than $800,000 in 2011.

No posts to display