Scarce grouping of six items from the Apollo 11 state dinner hosted by President Richard Nixon at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on August 13, 1969, which includes: the dinner invitation from “The President and Mrs. Nixon” in honor of “the Apollo 11 Astronauts”; the dinner menu, which offers a “Claire de Lune” wine option; an official table card from the event, numbered “105”; a yellow “Presidential Party, Apollo XI Dinner” vehicle card; and two small table setting American flags. The reverse of the menu features eight signatures, including socialite Jeannette Rockefeller, NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan, and aeronautical and systems engineer Kelly Johnson. In overall fine condition.
On August 13, 1969, New York City welcomed heroic Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins with an exuberant ticker-tape reception to applaud their successful moon landing. The crew had emerged from quarantine in Houston only three days earlier, and the parade through the United States' greatest metropolis was their first major public act. It was a busy day: after the three-and-a-half-hour tour through the streets of NYC, the astronauts were hosted at parades in Chicago and Los Angeles. Their day ended with a state dinner at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, where President Richard Nixon presented them with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
