Lot 664
Skylab 3, 1973, "Wives' Crew Patch" (4") This original patch was issued as a caricature of the flight's crew patch with a nude woman used in place of Leonardo da Vinci's famous nude man and the names of the crew wives (Sue (Bean), Helen-Mary (Garriott),and Gratia (Lousma)) in place of the names of the astronaut crew. Ardis Shanks, who was an artist in the Houston area (and Alan Bean's art teacher) drew the female figure. She and French journalist Jacques Tiziou both had patches made from this design, and Tiziou had an astronaut acquaintance secret a number of patches in the Skylab expedition 2 command module.
"An interesting sidelight involves the wives' patch, a 'first' that was done without our knowledge. The first time we saw the 'wives' patch was when we arrived in orbit and began to open the storage lockers in the Command Module to get our gear out. Neatly pasted to the interior of three of these locker doors were decals of the "wives" patch. This was a great idea and consistent with one of our mottos, 'Never lose your sense of humor.'" (Jack Lousma, from "All We Did Was Fly to the Moon", and the Space Patch" web site, www.spacepatches.nl).
ALSO included are reprints of two classic photos from the artist's collection including one of the three wives together with the artist. This patch is an important part of space "crew patch" history.
Estimated Value $350 - 500.
Ex. The artist Ardis Shanks collection.
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| Realized $764 |
