John Glenn, Astor-Naught Dinner, New York 1962
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On March 1, 1962 – the date of this menu – an estimated four million people attended a ticker-tape parade for astronaut John Glenn in New York City.
The festivities celebrated him becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, following his Friendship 7 orbital flight two weeks before.
Glenn, his wife Annie, and then vice-president Lyndon Johnson rode in the parade that traveled along Broadway’s ‘Canyon of Heroes.’ Brass bands played, tons of confetti poured down into the streets and there was a huge air of excitement as cheering crowds celebrated this milestone.
The Hotel Astor on Times Square, an elaborate 11-storey Beaux Arts building, came up with the idea of an Astor-Naut Dinner Menu to celebrate America’s latest achievement in space.
This witty menu, with every dish having a space theme, was a salute to the national hero and must have added to the sheer fun of the day. It became a lovely souvenir of a proud day in America’s history.
Glenn (1921-2016) was the third American, and the fifth person, to travel in space. Following his retirement from NASA, Glenn served from 1974 to 1999 as a US senator from Ohio. In 1998, he flew into space again at the age of 77.
The Hotel Astor, built in 1905, was demolished in 1967.
Each order includes a print of the interior menu.
All printed in USA.
