Auction of JFK memorabilia set

A photograph up for auction shows John F. Kennedy and his son John F. Kennedy Jr. sitting in a rowboat at Bailey’s Beach in Newport, R.I., on Sept. 21, 1963.

Auction of JFK memorabilia set
By Eric Williams
also by Jason Kolnos
capecast@capecodonline.com
January 29, 2013
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130129/NEWS/301290333

It may be the coolest coat in American history: John F. Kennedy’s leather bomber jacket, size 44, adorned with the seal of the president. And you can own it.

The jacket is up for auction as part of the estate of the late David Powers, a special assistant and friend to JFK, who also held the post of curator of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

The Kennedy Family of Hyannisport
JFK Memorabilia Auction
11 a.m. Feb. 17
John McInnis Auctioneers, 72 Main St., Amesbury
Information and catalogue: www.mcinnisauctions.com

The auction is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 17 at John McInnis Auctioneers in Amesbury. The items will be on exhibit at the auction house for about a week before the sale. Online bidding will be available at LiveAuctioneers.com.

The leather jacket was worn by the president and his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, according to information provided by the auctioneers.

“I remember that jacket,” said Ethel Kennedy, reached by phone at her Florida home. “We were sailing off the coast of Maine one day, and I remember Bobby had been wearing the jacket, because he wore it a lot. It was just a great jacket. For some reason it was on the edge of the boat and it fell overboard. He dove in immediately and rescued it. It was so cold but he loved that jacket and didn’t want to lose it.”

The jacket, given to Powers by President Kennedy, is expected to sell for between $20,000 and $40,000. While it may be the highlight of the auction, there are more than 700 lots containing approximately 2,000 items up for grabs. The items were discovered by Powers’ family members last year as they readied the family home for sale.

David Powers died in 1998 at the age of 85.

Auction items include photographs, letters and gifts to Powers from the Kennedy family. Some are poignant reminders from the days of Camelot.

For an estimated $2,500 to $5,000, you could purchase a birthday card given to the president by his young son, John F. Kennedy Jr., in May 1963. The younger Kennedy, not yet 3 years old, signed the card “JOHN” in rather impressive letters, and included a line of X’s and O’s.

“Probably the only birthday card that John-John would have ever given his father,” said Dan Meader of John McInnis Auctioneers. “To think about the tragic loss of his father, and to think about John-John’s own tragic loss, it’s just a moving thing to see.”

Also on the block is Powers’ working copy of JFK’s schedule for Nov. 21 and 22, 1963, in Texas. Powers accompanied Kennedy on the trip, and annotated the schedule extensively to describe the assassination in Dallas.

“My President is dead,” wrote Powers, next to 1 p.m. on the Nov. 22 schedule, and the woe almost jumps off the page.

Ethel Kennedy said Powers cherished his close relationship with the president and his family — and the feelings were mutual.

“He was great, good company,” Ethel Kennedy said. “He was there when Jack first ran for Congress. Everybody who came through just loved him. He took care of everyone and communicated so well and was so entertaining.”

Rebecca Pierce-Merrick, curator and co-founder of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum, said she has been leafing through the auction catalog in search of any photos or personal notes that could tie into an upcoming exhibit that will focus on the president’s last visit to Cape Cod in the summer of 1963.

So far, Pierce-Merrick said, she hasn’t yet identified which, if any, items might be bid on by the museum. “It is really a very rich treasure trove of memorabilia,” she said.

Some of the memorabilia may be affordable, with estimated values on some lots starting at $50.

For about that, you could possibly purchase three pictures of the Kennedy family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1962, their last such holiday together.