The signature event of the 20th century, perhaps in all of history was the Apollo 11’s landing on the moon. Astronaut Neil Armstrong walked down the Lunar Excursion Model ladder and stepped on the terrestrial surface and announced to the world “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. With that pronouncement, a new era in human history began.

Following their return to Earth, the Apollo 11 crew were quarantined, spending three weeks on a USS Hornet trailer and the Lunar Receiving Laboratory. After spending a day with their families,the Apollo 11 crew's world tour began at a luncheon at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas on August 12th, 1969, a day before their memorable ticker-tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes in New York City.

This is all captured here in this brilliant 18 ½ x 39-inch display that features a color photo of the American Flag on the lunar surface, a color photo of the Apollo 11 crew in quarantine and a tremendous item celebrating the heroics of the Apollo 11 crew and key members of NASA – a luncheon menu. This menu, which is light blue and measures approximately 8 x 11 inches, has been signed from top to bottom by the Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton, Buzz Aldrin, the first American astronaut in space and chief astronaut Alan Shepard, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong. These are the first autographs of the Apollo 11 crew in person after their return from the moon. This menu has a fold in the middle with the left side having “AUTOGRAPHS” printed in blue and the five members signing their names on the pre-printed lines. The right side has the NASA logo with “SALUTE TO THE APOLLO 11 TEAM Rice Hotel August 12, 1969” and a rendering of the hotel.

Also included in this display are items from the Rice Hotel, which include a bar of soap still in the hotel packaging, a matchbook with “The Rice Hotel HOUSTON” printed in blue and a white swizzle stick that has “RICE HOTEL * THE OLD CAPITOL CLUB * HOUSTON” printed in blue on the round end. Capping off this display is a silver colored plate that has etched “NASA ASTRONAUTS FIRST AUTOGRAPHS AFTER MOON LANDING”. The signatures come with a LOA from JSA.

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