Space Age exploration has its own followers

By Terry Maurer, What's it Worth

We reach back in time more than 35 years to answer readers' questions about the history and value of their collectibles. Each is high tech. One is hard to find, the other common in these parts but not elsewhere. Let's talk space exploration and Space Age material in today's What's It Worth.

Q. I've had this "coffee table size" book for nearly 40 years. It was published by CBS News shortly after Apollo 11's first moon landing and is called "10:56:20PM 7/20/69," the exact East Coast time Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface.

It seems the book had very limited distribution. CBS TV affiliate stations got some and network executives, advertisers and others received copies. With the 40th anniversary of the landing last month, along with the passing of anchorman Walter Cronkite, has this increased in value? -- AB in Kennewick

A. Your large book -- it measures 11 by 12 inches -- is basically a print version of the CBS Network coverage of the first lunar landing mission.

The 169-page volume is filed with photographs taken from the actual on-air broadcast (as such, they appear slightly out of focus) and commentary by Cronkite, Mike Wallace, Dan Rather and others.

It contains all the reporting, the banter between the broadcasters (called "cross-talk" in today's TV world) and hundreds of photos.

In the text of the actual broadcast, Cronkite announces Armstrong is standing on the moon's surface just seconds before the astronaut delivers his now-famous "That's one small step for man ..." statement.

The book comes up for sale from time to time and copies are generally valued at between $100 and $150. Quite a bit of the value depends on condition and whether or not the dust jacket is present.

The dust jacket is special, in that the paper is impressed with replicas of the moon's craters. With no jacket, the price is reduced about 40 percent.

This copy has a small "chip" of the jacket paper missing from the upper right corner on the front. While not a large detractor, any jacket damage at all will negatively impact the price.

We estimate this example at $100.

Have the moon landing anniversary and Cronkite's passing added to the value? Time will tell. We've yet to see any upward jump in the marketplace.

Q. Here's a small swatch of material from the roof of the U.S. Pavilion at Spokane's Expo '74 World's Fair. It was a handout at some community event we attended eight or 10 years ago. The pavilion still is standing as one of the few buildings left over from the fair. Would this little piece have any value to a world's fair collector, or anyone else? -- Jim in Spokane

A. The Spokane expo of 35 years ago made a huge difference to the Lilac City. The river front was cleaned up, overhead railroad tracks that cut straight across the northern edge of downtown were removed and the millions of visitors injected a much-needed boost to the economy.

As with all world's fairs, most buildings were designed to be very temporary. Oh, Spokane's opera house and convention center were left after the fair, but that had been the plan all along. The U. S. Pavilion was supposed to go away soon after the fair ended in November 1974.

It didn't. The city informally adopted the nearly 150-foot-high structure as the permanent memento of the fair -- not unlike the Space Needle in Seattle and the Eiffel Tower in Paris (that was the centerpiece of the 1900 exposition in the French capital).

By 1978, the then state-of-the-art 10,000 square feet of once-gleaming white roof fabric was in tatters. Made of a coated material, it was space age, but had not been designed to withstand even so much as one Spokane winter.

Eventually, the city decided to remove all the old fabric cover and stretch a series of interlocking cable links between the massive main support wires. That's the Pavilion you see today. It now houses an IMAX Theatre, seasonal amusement rides and an ice skating rink.

This swatch from the roof measures about 3 inches by 5 inches and is an interesting little piece of Northwest history. Originally all white, the colorful designs of the gondola ride which still goes across the falls of the Spokane River and the large butterflies that mark entrances to Riverfront Park were added.

This is one of those things that is interesting but has modest, if any collector value. A dedicated collector might pay $5 for it.

w Terry Maurer, a Tri-Cities personal property appraiser and antique dealer, is a member of the Certified Appraisers Guild of America. You may submit your antiques and collectible questions to What's It Worth by e-mail to whatsitworth@clearwire.net.

tool name

Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009

Space Age exploration has its own followers

By Terry Maurer, What's it Worth