Ultra-rare Xmas card signed by John F Kennedy and First Lady for sale on eBay
A rare 1963 Christmas card from John F. Kennedy and Jackie Onassis, bearing the signatures of the famous couple, is up for auction with an asking price of $35,0000.
The card is one of less than 75 personally signed by the couple and it dates back to an incredibly fateful moment in US history. Out of all the cards signed by the president and first lady during their time in office, this one was personally autographed by JFK at some point in the two days immediately before he was assassinated in Dallas on November 22 1963.
The Christmas card is part of a small group, none of which were sent out after the horrific events of his shooting. It dates from a two-day window between Kennedy’s return to the White House from Florida on the evening of November 18 and his departure for Texas on the morning of November 21.
Jackie had signed the cards, a small batch of 75 hand-signed ones as opposed to a larger batch which were stamped with replicas of their signatures, earlier that month. The inside of the card features a gold presidential seal above the text 'With best wishes for a Happy New Year.'
A letter by Evelyn Lincoln, JFK’s personal secretary, dated September 22, 1987 is included with the card, currently up for auction from Press Pass Collectibles. It is addressed to Robert L. White. White was a noted Kennedy enthusiast and an obsessive collector of JFK and Jackie memorabilia. He had collected around 25,000 items according to a 2003 obit in The Washington Post.
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The card was one of a very few hand-signed by Kennedy just a day or two before his death (mediadrumimages/Ebay)The letter reads: “This letter to accompany all of the 1963 Christmas cards in your possession signed by our late president John F. Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy. These were the Kennedy personal Christmas cards for 1963. They were manufactured by Hallmark and have Crech in East Room. The White House on the front. The inside hsa a gold Presidential seal with a greeting.
“They were limited in quantity. Jackie signed the cards early in November. The President signed them at his desk in the Oval Office shortly before his tragic death in Dalla. The cards were never sent out.”
Mr. White also apparently had a close friendship with Ms. Lincoln, who reportedly granted him access to objects associated with the Kennedy administration. The card shows a tableau of a nativity scene from the East Room of The White House.
The First Family had planned to spend Christmas in Palm Beach, Florida, with the President's siblings and parents. Instead JAckie had to spend the holidays moving herself and her children out of the White House, which hse had spent two years restoring, into a friend’s house in Washington D.C. She received more than 800,000 cards and letters of condolence in the aftermath of JFK's death, according to the Smithsonian Magazine - but she did not send out any holiday cards herself that year.
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