October 2016 – Page 2 – The Intelligent Collector Magazine

For Champions, Doing the Impossible is Always Possible

1972-topps-roger-staubach-200-psa-mint-9 — Roger Staubach’s 1972 Topps rookie card, graded PSA Mint 9, sold for $14,340 at an August 2016 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

There were only 32 seconds left in a 1975 playoff game and the Dallas Cowboys seemed hopelessly beaten, trailing the Minnesota Vikings 14 to 10, with no timeouts and the ball at midfield.

Roger Staubach lofted a bomb to Drew Pearson, which he caught with one hand, the ball pinned to his hip, and made it into the end zone.

After the 17-14 win, Staubach said, “You throw it up and pray he catches it. I guess it’s a Hail Mary pass.”

And that’s exactly what such plays are still called today.

♦♦♦

It was July 1976 and the location was the Summer Olympic Games in Montreal.

A 14-year-old gymnast from Romania had just completed one of the team compulsory events on the uneven bars. The routine looked great until her score was posted: 1.00.

nadia-comaneci Everyone was confused until they realized the scoreboard clock should have displayed 10.00, a feat that had never been achieved in modern Olympic history. Then the crowd went wild.

It seems that Omega had been instructed to assemble a clock with only three digits as a four-digit score was considered impossible. So when all the judges awarded Nadia Comaneci all 10s … well, you get it.

She would earn a 10.00 six more times. And since the minimum age limit to compete is now 16, it appears she has a few records that will never be equaled.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is President and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

Cal Rodgers’ Bizarre Flight Mostly Forgotten to Aviation History

the-wright-brothers-original-fabric-from-the-vin-fiz — Calbraith Perry Rodgers made the first transcontinental airplane flight in the Vin Fiz Flyer.

By Jim O’Neal

Before Ben Sliney made the decision to close all the airports in 2001 (see yesterday’s post), most aeronautical efforts were focused on inventing flying machines that would go faster and higher.

Orville and Wilbur Wright were brothers from Ohio who worked on printing presses, motors and bicycles. On Dec. 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, N.C., they made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft. Two years later they perfected controls to make fixed-wing powered flights feasible.

Less than eight years later, William Randolph Hearst offered a prize of $50,000 to the first flier to cross the United States between New York and Pasadena (going either way) within 30 days.

Three men actually tried. One was a race driver, another a jockey, but both failed. The third aspirant, a flamboyant, cigar-chomping showman named Calbraith Perry Rodgers, decided to try despite just learning how to fly. His only lesson was a 90-minute session with Orville Wright, but it was enough for him to receive the 49th license to fly.

By chance, the Armour Meat Co. had developed a soft drink called Vin Fiz that was wildly unsuccessful. In desperation, they hatched a marketing plan to sponsor Cal Rodgers’ flight and it was equally bizarre.

They named the plane Vin Fiz, plastered it with advertising signs and put an oversized bottle between the two wheels. Then they designed a special train to trundle beneath the plane’s flight, loaded with every possible spare part, and Cal’s wife!

People all over the country would be exposed to the Vin Fiz brand.

One minor detail was that the offer had a one-year expiration clause and by the time all the preparations were complete, Cal only had 43 days to make the entire trip. Undaunted, on Sept. 17, 1911, Rodgers climbed aboard, shorted the magneto, pulled the choke cable, released the brake and took off. Within 10 minutes, the speck in the sky was gone from view.

In the end, he failed. He made it to Pasadena 19 days too late to win the prize money. However, he pressed on and dipped his wheels in the water at Long Beach, thereby becoming the first man to fly from one coast to the other in just 19 weeks. Thousands more would follow this true adventurer’s aerial footsteps, until Ben Sliney issued his famous order to all aircraft 90 years later. One opened the skies and the other closed them, yet neither are well known.

The Vin Fiz Flyer is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and 12 Vin Fiz 25-cent stamps are known to exist. One sold for $88,000 in 1999. The Vin Fiz grape drink finally fizzled out.

FAA Operations Manager Ben Sliney Had a Good First Day on the Job

sept-24-2001-edition-of-time-magazine-signed-by-president-george-w-bush — A copy of the Sept. 24, 2001, edition of *Time* magazine signed by President George W. Bush went to auction in August 2003.

By Jim O’Neal

On Sept. 11, 2001, I was at the Harbor Court Baltimore, a five-star hotel overlooking the spectacular harbor. I was recovering from prostate cancer surgery that, fortunately, had been performed by world-famous surgeon Dr. Patrick Walsh, head of urology at Johns Hopkins.

I was in an overstuffed rented recliner watching CNN when “Breaking News” started on the tragedy in New York City. The news started erratic and devolved into chaotic as the story expanded to cover the Pentagon, President Bush, a third plane, and an abundance of speculation. A fourth plane, United Flight 93, would crash just after 10 a.m. in Shanksville, Pa.

Then there were scattered reports that all domestic flights were being grounded.

This was the work of one man, Ben Sliney, National Operations Manager of the Federal Aviation Administration. Although an experienced veteran, Sept. 11 was his first day in this head job. At 9:45 a.m., Sliney issued an order of formidable implications. He had already forbidden any aircraft from taking off from any airport anywhere under his national jurisdiction. He had also already closed the Atlantic and Pacific approaches to the United States and transatlantic planes were diverting to alternatives.

But now, at 9:45, Sliney instructed that a seldom-heard procedure – SCATANA (Security Control of Air Traffic and Navigation Aids) – be broadcast to every one of nearly 5,000 commercial airplanes in the air. “This is not drill.” It required ALL aircraft to land IMMEDIATELY at the closest airport. By 11:20, an hour and 35 minutes later, every plane was down … somewhere … on North American ground.

Airports were crowded and millions were inconvenienced, but the intent was achieved. The American skies were empty, except a few jets on patrol, several planes of prisoners and deportees, and some organs en route for transplant. A small irony was that the machine that had done so much to bond the nation had now been employed by an enemy to do the opposite.

I would say Mr. Ben Sliney had a good first day on the new job.

Deep Divisions Within a Political Party Nothing New

andy-warhols-screenprint-teddy-roosevelt — Andy Warhol’s screenprint *Teddy Roosevelt* (from the Cowboys and Indians portfolio), 1986, ed. 183/250, realized $23,750 at a May 2013 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

Theodore Roosevelt assumed the presidency in September 1901 following the assassination of William McKinley. Teddy was 42 years old and remains the youngest man to hold the office (JFK was 43).

When reelected in 1904, it was the first time an incumbent president won reelection after ascending to the presidency upon the death of his predecessor. Calvin Coolidge (1924), Harry S. Truman (1948) and Lyndon B. Johnson (1964) would later match this historic first.

When 1908 rolled around, TR honored his earlier pledge “not to seek a third term” and then maneuvered his associate William Howard Taft into the White House.

At the time, it seemed like a sound strategic transition for the Republicans. But it would turn out to be a colossal mistake that would grow in importance and haunt Roosevelt for the rest of his life.

When he returned from the historic Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition two years later, the group had collected 11,400 animal specimens that took Smithsonian naturalists eight years to catalog. And the political animals had also been busy during his absence.

A major rift developed between President Taft and TR over policies that had become administration priorities. This, in turn, caused a deep divide in the Republican Party that could not be reconciled. It was so serious that neither faction could generate enough support to defeat Democrat Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 election.

Later, many politicians were convinced that Roosevelt was still popular enough to seriously contend for the 1920 Republican nomination. However, this conjecture was never tested since the mighty Bull Moose’s health was broken and he died on Jan. 6, 1919.

He still regretted making “that damn pledge not to run in 1908” and took it with him to the grave.

After 400 Years, Trade Issues Still at Center of American Politics

this-is-america-charlie-brown-mayflower-voyagers-production-cel-setup — Mayflower voyagers head to the New World in this production cel from 1988’s *This is America, Charlie Brown*. This lot went to auction in July 2014.

By Jim O’Neal

In the early 17th century, people in England were legally required to worship as prescribed by the Church of England. However, although the church had broken from the Catholic Church, many people felt the rituals and prayers were Catholic features that should be dropped.

Puritans, so-called because of their religious purity, wanted to make these reforms from within the church. Other groups called “Separatists” set up their own congregations, but their leaders were imprisoned so they moved to the Netherlands, which was more tolerant.

In 1620, the Puritans set sail across the Atlantic to begin a new life in America. They started in two ships, but one was not seaworthy so they had to continue in just one, the Mayflower. Winter storms ravaged them during the 66-day voyage, but they managed to craft the Mayflower Compact, a document which pledged their loyalty to the Crown while asserting their right to make their own laws.

As the French, Dutch and Swedish arrived in North America, Britain decided to restrict their colonies by enacting the Navigation Acts, which required that all commodity trade take place in British ships crewed by British sailors.

Naturally, the colonists came to see these measures as willful suppression of their trade and manufacturing. Tensions rose on both sides of the Atlantic that would lead inexorably to the American War of Independence that we are so familiar with.

Free trade is still being debated yet today – almost 400 years later – as we see both major political parties arguing over new trade agreements with Asia. President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) involves the Pacific Ocean this time. Some things never seem to change (much).

Iranian Revolution Created Tensions That Have Yet to be Resolved

don-ivan-punchatz-ayatollah-khomeini-unpublished-alternate-time-magazine-cover-illustration-original-art-1984 — An unpublished *Time* cover illustration of Ayatollah Khomeini by Don Ivan Punchatz (1936-2009), dated 1984, went to auction in September 2012.

By Jim O’Neal

No act of terror could have exceeded the profound tension of the 1970s after the unpredictable drama that enveloped a Middle East nation in 1979. For Americans, it closed out the decade with a new and ferocious attack on our pride and sense of well-being.

It arrived from a most unlikely source: a bearded, humorless, 79-year-old Muslim cleric – in exile the previous 15 years from his native Iran, the last of them in Neauphle-le-Château (outside of Paris), preaching Sharia law and campaigning for the ouster of the Shah.

Remarkably, in early 1979, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini achieved his life’s goal: toppling the Shah’s Pahlavi dynasty and replacing him as de facto head of a modern theocracy. As he did, the enthusiasm of his insurrection fanned the flames of anti-Western fanaticism throughout the Muslim world. An Islamic Revolution was formally under way.

After centuries of being guided by conservative mullahs, Iran had been wrenched into the 20th century by what the Shah described as a “white revolution” (bloodless). He was the son of an army officer who had seized control of Iran in the 1920s. The Shah succeeded his father, was briefly deposed and then reinstalled by a CIA-led coup in 1953.

The Shah was active, stripping the clergy of their vast land holdings, declaring radical new rights for women, dramatically increasing urbanization and strengthening ties to the West. In addition to being a source of oil, Iran became a strategic impediment to the advancement of its neighbor, the Soviet Union. As western alliances flourished, so did Iran. Previously a desert state, it was transformed into a stunning country with shiny steel mills, nuclear power and an army well-stocked with American artillery.

Unfortunately, much of the populace did not want to abandon their rich heritage. They found inspiration in the sermons of Muslim leaders and viewed the western world as plagued with problems. The increasing tension forced the Shah to crack down hard and by 1979, he could not prevent popular resistance.

Early on Nov. 4, 1979, a mob of demonstrators breached the American Embassy in Tehran, took the staff as hostages and began their 444-day declaration of vengeance against the Great Satan. They defied the United Nations, the United States, and a failed 1980 rescue mission that left aircraft wreckage, the bodies of eight U.S. servicemen, and Jimmy Carter’s reelection effort in the desert sands.

Thirty-seven years later, the struggle of East-West continues and only the leaders have changed. However, the West is now viewed as occupiers instead of hostages and multiple conflicts in various countries offer little hope for peace. Civil wars usually last about 10 years. This may turn out to be a generational conflict, involving competing civilizations, perhaps all armed with nuclear capabilities.

To date, no one has offered a coherent strategy for an endgame as we continue to argue and debate who or what to blame.

Science Tends to March On, Despite Public Opinion Polls

aldous-huxley-brave-new-world-london-chatto-windus-1932 — A 1932 first edition of Aldous Huxley’s *Brave New World*, with its custom leather clamshell box, sold for $3,585 at an October 2008 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

The healthy, lusty cry that emanated from a delivery room in a British mill town hospital at precisely 11:47 on a summer night in 1978 brought joy to Lesley and John Brown. Since their marriage in 1969, the couple had wanted a baby and now they had one, thanks to $1,500 John won betting on football. There was also the brilliance of two British doctors who became the first physicians to create a test-tube baby. They had been unsuccessful in 80 previous tries.

The formal term for the method that produced little 6-pound Louise Brown was IVF – “in vitro fertilization” (literally “in glass”), but “test tube” better fit the imagination that was running wild around the world. With the news, people began recalling Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel Brave New World and its vision of a society where “babies are mass produced from chemical solutions in laboratory bottles.”

Actually, Louise was nothing close to this concept. She represented the union of John’s sperm and Lesley’s egg, and was carried to term by her mother as other babies were. Only the joining of the ingredients had been done in a lab. The incipient embryo was transferred back to Lesley, where it implanted itself on the wall of the hormone-prepared uterus.

The moral and legal implications touched off incendiary debates when the news from Britain spread. And the fact the story came from a hysterical tabloid (the Browns sold the story rights to the Daily Mail for $500,000) took the episode further into the realm of science-fiction.

The clergy were unanimous against “baby factories” and scientists “playing God” – but the issue was overtaken in the headlines by women’s rights, feminism, industrial abuses of the environment (Earth Day), fossil fuels and materialism. Climate change, and income and wealth inequality battles were on the way.

In August 1998, I hosted a PepsiCo dinner for the Scottish scientists from the Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh) who had just cloned the first mammal from an adult somatic cell, the famous Dolly the Sheep. Dolly was born on July 5, 1996, and the great controversy this time was “designer babies.” As I recall, they suspected the Koreans would be the first to attempt humans, but the only ones I’ve read about are pigs, deer, horses and bulls.

I think Dolly died just before her seventh birthday from a lung disease – living about half as long as hoped. I assume little Louise Brown must have 5 to 10 million IVF cousins by now.

Science marches on, despite public opinion polls.