Warbird Information Exchange

I just finished the Neil Armstrong bio 'First Man'. It discusses how Armstrong has resisted selling out his collection of things related to Apollo 11, but Buzz has been cashing in for some time.

Steve G

"This baby" also ain't a warbird. Apples and oranges.

Mudge the alert

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Land of the free because of the brave

this should be at NASM - and a B-47 should be flying!!

Tom P.

AMAZING.

BUT, as a MAJOR part of the "American experience" it should darn well be in a museum.

Couldn't Buzz have donated his stuff to the Smithsonian for a tax credit of some sort? Instead of selling it. Obiviously he could make more money selling to a private interest, but still.

I really belongs in a museum and it's a shame that it'll probably end up in someones personal collection. Great for the person that buys it and who s/he lets see it, but it's such a significant artifact it should be preserved and made accessible to anyone and everyone.

That's what's left in my piggy bank (2 cents).

Cheers,

David

Don't worry, it'll be there eventually. Usually by a decendant of the purchaser not wanting to pay inheritance taxes. Then there is a good chance it will be traded or sold again by the same museum.

To be honest, I am not a big fan of institutionalizing things, art, historical artifacts, ect. It seems that the second something is institutionalized, it becomes the exclusive property of PHD eggheads, and regular folks like me never will have access to it. I realize that the document in question will probably not be seen by regular folks like me either when purchased by the rich person, but, at least there is a chance sometime in the long future that I could buy it, maybe.

I mostly see this in the rare book and art world. Once institutionalized, it might as well be on the moon. Oh well, I got my arty farty stuff and rare books. When I die, I am stipulating that all of that stuff be sold individually to private persons so that some other people might be able to enjoy them in the long future, and not be in some storage room in the back of a museum.

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DEEP THOUGHTS BY KIDS:
"If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the looting started. Age 15 "


Deep Thoughts,
Jack Handy

That last thing that I'd want would be for the artifact to be locked away and hidden from the public eye.

I'd hope for it to be displayed in a museum along with other Apollo stuff.

I suppose the best bet would be to create a copy of the document down to the bindings, so people could actually thumb through it to see what was written it in, and get a feel for the thing. Then there could be a note explaining that the original was stored somewhere, or owned by someone else, etc, etc.

I think what's most important is the story behind the artifact and the significance of it. If it would simply be tagged, bagged, and tossed in a dark room that would go against why I would want it in a museum. I would want it in a museum for people to see and understand.

Cheers,

David

Hi,

I made my money working through University as a Research Assistant for various Masters and Doctoral Candidates.

In the Academic World the the touchstone is "Publish or parish!". Another might as well be " So; what have you writing lately?". In the Academic World nothing is "discovered" unless it is "discovered" by an Academic and published in the "Right" places.

Towards that end many things that are donated, bought, or acquired by any other means by an Institution are intentionally buried so that only the "right" people have access to them.

You would not believe the number of times that I requested to view an MS in the Rare book room, and was told it was unavailable. Usually for "conservation". Unavailable that is till I presented them with the letter from the department head informing the Library staff that I was doing "authorized research".

This was at a State University. You may not know it, but; State Universities, generally, are required to let the Public have access to their collections.

So; yes I would like to see things go on display at a public Institution. However; I know all too well how things can be "temporarily" miss-placed.

Joe

I reckon Buzz Aldrin has a right to dispose of his property as he sees fit. If someone wants it badly enough to bid at that level, good for them.

There are plenty of records of the Apollo missions, a folder isn't going to give much more insight into what happened, as anything recorded in the folder is all recorded elsewhere anyway.

Sometimes it seems that people in the public eye are expected to do things that the rest of us aren't. He flew the mission, he worked hard, he has his memories and he is free to dispose of them as he sees fit.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. He could be 'noble' and hang onto his memorabilia, but some would see that as 'selfish' and 'hoarding' things which should be public. If this happened, it would be disposed of after his death,and who knows where it goes then? He could sell it now at the risk of being 'selfish' and 'in it for the money' for giving himself an enjoyable retirement.

As I see it, he didn't toss the folder in the bin in 1970, so he's free to sell it.

Cheers,
Matt