Neil Armstrong Hairdressing Scissors & Comb
For Sale: £35,000.00
Neil Armstrong is best known for being the first person to ever set
foot on the moon. He participated in two spaceflights during his career
as an astronaut; Gemini 8 and Apollo 11. He also served as Capsule
Communicator, communicating with the crew of Gemini 11 in 1966.
Armstrong has been awarded a Congressional Space Medal of Honor for his efforts and has been decorated by 17 countries in total.
Shortly after Apollo 11, Armstrong announced that he would not be flying into space again.
For
one year he served as Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics,
NASA Headquarters and then went on to teach at the Department of
Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati between 1971 and
1979. From 1982 until 1992 he was chairman of Computing Technologies for
Aviation Inc.
Description
This is a pair of scissors and a comb used by Neil Amstrong's barber, Marx Sizemore to cut Armstrong's hair.
They are accompanied by 25 strands of Armstrong's hair.
History
In
May 2005, Neil Armstrong became involved in a legal battle with barber
Marx Sizemore of Lebanon, Ohio, Armstrong's hometown, after finding that
the barber was selling off cuts of his hair to memorabilia hunters.
Armstrong
threatened legal action unless the hair was returned or the sale
proceeds donated to charity. The scissors & comb used by the barber
have since been held in a private collection.
Provenance
This is a well documented collection.
Included in the sale are copies of the legal correspondence between Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Armstrong's legal representatives, and barber Marx Sizemore.
Also included are sworn testimonies from Sizemore declaring the hair to be genuine:
"This
is to inform you that I have been the barber of record of Neil
Armstrong since October 1999. I generally cut his hair once a month.
This is the, Neil Armstrong, who was an astronaut for N.A.S.A. and the
first man to walk on the moon. I do attest that the hair clippings
submitted to you are his hairs that I cut from his head."
There is another Sizemore document authenticating the scissors used to cut Armstrong's hair.
A
notary Public State of Colorado document is also included detailing how
the original purchaser obtained the hair from Marx Sizemore.
Rarity
Since
1994, Neil Armstrong has ceased signing autographs as he found out that
many forgeries were selling for large amounts of money. Armstrong's is
now considered to be the most valuable signature of any living person
and a signed photo of him has increased in value by 981.8% in the last
11 years, according to the PFC40 Autograph Index.
An
estimated 600 million people tuned in to watch the launch of Apollo 11
and so it comes as no surprise that memorabilia related to the mission
and its astronauts is highly sought after. Combine this demand with the
shortage of Neil Armstrong signed memorabilia out there and it becomes
apparent why personal items such as this comb, scissors and hair, are
incredibly rare.
History of hair collecting
Hair
collecting was hugely popular in the Victorian era. Military officer,
Robert E. Lee would regularly give away a sample of his hair instead of
an autograph.
A curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of
American History, Harry Rubenstein, says "more so than an autograph, it
was a sign of affection".
The poet Leigh Hunt is known to have
had a collection of hair from 21 notable figures inducing Edgar Allen
Poe, John Keats and George Washington. This collection is currently on
display in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.
Comparables
The value of the 25 off-cuts of hair alone should not be underestimated... A single strand of Elvis Presley hair recently sold for £1,055 ($1,750) at auction.
Also
in recent years locks from Babe Ruth have sold for $38,000 at auction,
John Lennon for $48,000, Elvis and Che Guevara for $119,500. Even teen
sensations Justin Bieber's hair has sold at auction for $40,668.
The price of Armstrong memorabilia soared at the recent Apollo 11 40th Anniversary celebrations. A personal cheque signed by Neil Armstrong on the day of his lunar mission sold for a record $27,350. 54 times the minimum bid price of $500.
This item qualifies for our layaway plan.
Stock Status:In Stock
Product Code: PT252
