Winter Auction 2015 closing February 7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/8/2015
John F. Kennedy was a great leader and the 35th President but since his assassination his legend has grown and he has become a cultural icon. JFK shows his cool side in the offered framed display, which sports a cigar from his personal collection and an 8x10 photo of him smoking a cigar while reading the New York Times sports section. Measuring 14-1/2 x 21-1/2” this classic display is triple matted in beige and showcases a 5-1/4” long Flor Fina cigar labeled in gold as “Specially Made For President Kennedy”.
This cigar is from a box sent as a gift from the Philippines. Accompanying this item is a LOA from University Archives and copies of a series of 1961 and 1963 letters courtesy of the JFK Presidential Library tracing the levels of protocol from the Philippine President, two Philippine Ambassadors and White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger along with Kennedy’s thank you letters. The cigar features (2) bands, one is red and gold and is labeled “Flor Fina, Coronas, Alhambra, Manila”, the other band is black and is labeled “Choicest Philippine Tobacco, Sumatra Wrapper”. A 6 x 1-1/2” engraved brass plate is located at the bottom of the display which reads in full as “John F. Kennedy Personally Owned Cigar, “The Best in the World”, received after he banned importation of all Cuban products including cigars and just after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Included is a photograph purchased from the JFK Library." LOA from University Archives.