John F. Kennedy PT-109 tie clip, Washington, D.C., 1960
date: label: date made
content: ca 1960
name: label: associated person
content: Kennedy, John F.
notes: label: Description
content: This bronze tie clip was modeled after PT-109, the boat that young Lieutenant John F. Kennedy skippered in the South Pacific during the Second World War. When a Japanese destroyer rammed the boat, Kennedy acted to save his crew. The dramatic story of the rescue was widely distributed by Kennedy’s congressional campaign in 1946. PT-109 became a symbol of perseverance and courage.
label: Description
content: During Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign, a flood of PT boat souvenirs appeared, from plastic bathtub toys to pin-back buttons, including the candidate’s own PT-109 tie clip. After Kennedy’s death in 1963, his longtime secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, gave this bronze tie clip to Smithsonian curator Herbert R. Collins from a supply she kept for herself. Lincoln told him that a supply of bronze clips had been produced for Kennedy to give away as souvenirs. Five were modeled in gold for him to wear. Despite the cautions of his staff to not distribute the gold ones, he gave them away with the bronze ones.
label: Description
content: Gift of Mrs. Evelyn N. Lincoln, 1964
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, General History Collection
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content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: Souvenir Nation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Evelyn N. Lincoln
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.254858.02
label: catalog number
content: 254858.02
label: accession number
content: 254858
objectType: label: Object Name
content: tie bar
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)