The estate of John Glenn is selling artifacts and belongings from the Ohio native’s long career as an astronaut and a senator. See photos of some of the items, ranging from high-end crystal to dress shoes and decks of cards.
WASHINGTON — The estate of John Glenn is selling artifacts and belongings from the Ohio native’s long career as an astronaut and a senator.
Items include mementos of Glenn’s career with NASA, the Senate and the Marine Corps. Decorative and household pieces are also available: Items range from jewelry to Tiffany crystal to mission clothing to a Mickey Mouse pin with Swarovski crystals. Stetson hats, meerschaum pipes and even dress shoes — only $10 — were on sale.
Just a few hours into the sale, more than 260 people had gotten numbers to get inside.
A baseball hat with the designation NX-01 on it went for $95. That’s a hefty price, but Don Eggert, of D.C., thought it was a bargain: It’s the registration of the first starship Enterprise, from the prequel series “Star Trek: Enterprise.”
“Here I can get something that I appreciate in science fiction,” Eggert said, “but it belonged to an astronaut who was amazing.”
The line Thursday afternoon to get into the John Glenn estate sale, in Potomac, Maryland.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
Watches from John Glenn’s estate.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
Meerschaum pipes are $175 at John Glenn’s estate sale.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
A wine stopper from John Glenn’s estate.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
A prayer rug at John Glenn’s estate sale.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
A donkey figurine, symbolic of Glenn’s membership in the Democratic Party, at John Glenn’s estate sale.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
Wooden ducks and other items at John Glenn’s estate sale.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
Ties from John Glenn’s estate.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
Dress shoes at John Glenn’s estate sale.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
A patch from the Discovery mission, on which John Glenn became the oldest man in space, from Glenn’s estate.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
Various personal items at John Glenn’s estate sale.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
A belt and sneakers at John Glenn’s estate sale.
(WTOP/Kristi King)
WTOP/Kristi King
Detail from a long coat from John Glenn’s estate.
(Courtesy Greater Washington Estate Services)
Courtesy Greater Washington Estate Services
U.S. Senate cuff links from John Glenn’s estate.
(Courtesy Greater Washington Estate Services)
Courtesy Greater Washington Estate Services
No more cuff links at the Senator John Glenn Estate sale, Potomac, Md. 10am-3pm-ish thru Sun @WTOPpic.twitter.com/YhzbEjiFzr
Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1962. He served in the Senate from 1974 to 1999, and became the oldest person to fly in space in 1998, when he was 77. He died in 2016.
Rick Massimo came to WTOP, and to Washington, in 2013 after having lived in Providence, R.I., since he was a child. He's the author of "A Walking Tour of the Georgetown Set" and "I Got a Song: A History of the Newport Folk Festival."