Topps Astronaut Trading Card, "Final Checkup," 1963
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Artifact Overview
President John F. Kennedy's vision to explore the "new frontier" of space ignited the public's imagination. Pictorial souvenir cards like this helped generate excitement about the latest achievements in the space program. The U.S. astronauts and their accomplishments dominate the card fronts, while the backs show drawings that blend elements of science fiction and fantasy-requiring 3-D glasses to view.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Collecting card
Date Made
1963
Subject Date
1961
Creator Notes
Trading card for Topps Chewing Gum, Incorporated. Image used credited to NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Collection Title
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
2013.55.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Cardboard
Plastic
Technique
Photomechanical processes
Color
Multicolored
Dimensions
Height: 3.5 in
Width: 2.5 in
Inscriptions
Text on front:
25 / FINAL CHECKUP / A technician makes a final check of / Astronaut Virgil Grissom's flight suit. / The suit must function perfectly for the / astronaut to survive in space.
Partial text on back: FLYING TERROR
Text on back of card: Front Photo Courtesy NASA
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Related Content
Set
JFK Remembered: Space Program
- 28 Artifacts
The first pictorial lunchboxes, introduced in 1950, featured Hopalong Cassidy. Since then, generations of children have proudly sported pictorial images of their favorite interests on the sides of their school lunchboxes. The 1960s were an age of space exploration, beginning with the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik in 1957 through the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon in 1969.