WORLD
JFK bomber jacket sold at auction for $665,500
Baku, February 21 (AZERTAC). A leather bomber jacket that belonged to slain US president John F. Kennedy has been sold at auction for $665,500, far exceeding the initial estimate, a Massachusetts auction house said Monday.
John Mcinnis Auctioneers said the jacket sold for $665,500, including the buyer`s premium, in a Presidents Day Auction.
The family of David F. Powers, the special assistant to Kennedy, sold hundreds of other items. The family discovered the items locked away last year as they prepared to sell the family home.
Powers traveled with JFK from his political beginnings in 1946 until he was assassinated in Dallas 1963.
He became the first curator of the JFK Library, retiring from that position in 1994.
The bidding on JFK`s items began Sunday at 11 a.m. EST and went through the night into the morning on Monday.
The Powers family auctioned photos, letters, documents and gifts from the Kennedy family.
One of the items was the official schedule of the president`s trip to Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Powers was riding in the secret service car behind JFK that day taking pictures before his film ran out. Thirteen minutes later Powers` schedule notes "JFK Shot. HE detailed the day minute by minute.
A book given to Mr. Powers by Jackie Kennedy was also sold.
Inside the book of presidential speeches the former first lady wrote: "To Dave Powers, The President was going to give you this for Christmas. Please accept it from me now. You and I will miss him most."
The brown Air Force One jacket was one of 700 lots put on the auction block Sunday after the family of David Powers, a special assistant to Kennedy, discovered a treasure trove of JFK memorabilia in the Powers family home.
The jacket was initially estimated at $20,000 to $40,000.
Among the other JFK items up for sale, nearly 50 years after his assassination, were photographs, campaign posters, letters and books belonging to the president.
The John McInnis auction house said on its Facebook page that the jacket was sold for $570,000. With the premium, the total was $665,500. The sale lasted more than six hours, the house said.