Presidents Day Special: The weirdest… Nine Line News Team February 15, 2021 Nine Line News 929 Today is Presidents Day, originally known as George Washington’s birthday. It is traditionally celebrated on the third Monday of February and was first celebrated in 1796 to commemorate our first president’s birthday on February 22nd. The holiday was later moved to the third Monday of February in 1971 as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in order to create more three-day weekends for workers. Some people thought changing the holidays from their original dates would cheapen their meaning. Columbus Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day were also moved from their traditionally designated dates. But after widespread criticism, Veterans Day was returned to its original November 11 date in 1980. Holidays have been stirring controversy for some time, apparently. Some people thought ensuring holidays always fell on the same weekday would reduce employee absenteeism. Both the private sector and labor unions saw these predictable 3-day weekends as a way to bolster retail sales. And indeed, Presidents Day has become one of those “big sale” weekends for big ticket items like cars, mattresses and appliances. But in keeping with the weirdness of the “roaring twenties,” this year, we have possibly the strangest Presidents Day sale ever: you can purchase locks of George and Martha Washington’s hair. A Boston-based firm called RR Auction has nearly 300 historic items related to the presidency up for sale through February 18th. The auction house specializes in historical manuscripts, autographs and other artifacts. “We have things starting at $100 into five figures so it’s an incredible history lesson of US presidents,” RR Auction executive vice president Bobby Livingston told CNN affiliate WBZ. The bids on the “George and Martha Washington Hair Display” are now up to $11,000 and it’s expected to go for more than $75,000. The item description says: Extraordinarily unique, well-documented shadowbox display featuring locks of hair from both George Washington and Martha Washington, presented in an ornate circular floral frame, measuring 20″ in diameter and 4.5″ deep. The copious lock of George Washington’s grayish tan hair is tied together with a fine white thread and displayed within a locket-style bezel, while the ample strands of Martha Washington’s light gray hair are loosely held in a similarly ornate frame. Both are mounted on a blue navy felt base between a gilt American bald eagle, which has raised wings, a shield with 13 stars and 13 stripes, an olive branch in its right talon, and three arrows in its left. Appearing beneath each lock are separate engravings of George and Martha Washington. In fine condition. If hair isn’t your thing, maybe it’s a fragment of black lace (after all, we just had Valentine’s Day…). Item #8010 in the auction is a piece of ornate black lace which belonged to Martha Washington. Or maybe you fancy owning John F. Kennedy’s Harvard letter sweater, a “handsome, classically-styled collegiate sweater features eight brilliant white mother-of-pearl buttons (six along the front and two on the neck), with two sewn-in pockets on the front. The sweater measures 32″ from the shoulder to the bottom, and would fall to the hip.” According to RR Auction, the sweater “was acquired by CBS cameraman Herman Lang while shooting the network’s May 1964 interview of Jacqueline Kennedy: “Being a chilly day in May, Lang remarked to a Kennedy staff member that he was catching a cold. The woman offered Mr. Lang this Harvard sweater to wear while he was filming outside. Apparently everyone laughed at Lang because the sweater was too big for him, but it was only when somebody mentioned that it was the late President’s sweater and that his name was still stitched to the inside of the collar that Mr. Lang felt awkward wearing the cardigan. He decided, however, that ‘it was better than freezing to death.’ After completing his filming outdoors he moved inside the house for Jacqueline Kennedy’s interview. When he attempted to return the sweater to a Kennedy insider he was told that he could keep it as a reminder of the late John F. Kennedy.” Of the 285 items for sale, there’s just one from Donald Trump: a check payable to Steiner Sports Memorabilia Inc. for $909.99 dated August 17, 2011. It’s now listed at $5500 and is expected to go for upwards of $15,000. Imagine what a lock of HIS hair would go for!
