"IT SEEMS TO ME IT'S KENNEDY" SEPIA TONED 1960 LIBRARY PORTRAIT BUTTON ONE OF THE JFK BIG FOUR.
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Winning Bid:
$7,009.20
(Includes 18% Buyer's Premium)
Bidding Ended:
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 9:00:00 PM (20 Minute Clock Begins At Tuesday, March 19, 2024 9:00:00 PM)
Item Description
3" w/metal back and horizontal bar pin. Produced by Frank Allen Specialties in New York City. Utilizing high contrast photo of JFK w/book case background. A superb display example and rarely offered. Scattered and trivial tiny bumps that occurred in manufacturing seen in reflected light. Exc. A variety of this design is featured on the cover of Harvey Goldberg's Kennedy collecting guide "The Campaign Items Of John F. Kennedy."
Frank Allen, owner of Frank Allen Specialties in New York City, was a friend of the Kennedy family and in 1960 he produced four now legendary pin-back button designs that were ultimately rejected. The handed down story, linked to Dave Powers JFK's confidant starting in his 1946 Congressional campaign, goes that Allen carried some samples along on a trip to the Hyannis where the notoriously hot-tempered Joseph Kennedy Sr. became infuriated with the designs shouting "My son is going to be the next President of the United States you can't use ugly pictures like this!" Whatever the reality the buttons were never produced in quantities more than the sample run of 36 and only a few have survived to this day. They have become the holy grail for Kennedy button collectors and rank among the most sought-after artifacts within the organized hobby of campaign button collecting. In our July 2023 auction we sold the more frequently seen black & white example of this variety for $5,503. This is the only sepia toned varity we can recall encountering. An important rarity from John Hillhouse's legendary JFK collection.
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