Young John Glenn's Pillowcase Foretold His Future

Whimsical bedding that sold for $2.5K at estate sale was embroidered with celestial bodies
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 19, 2018 9:29 AM CDT
Young John Glenn's Pillowcase Was Heavenly
Adam Sackowitz of Queens, NY, shows an embroidered pillowcase with celestial bodies on it that belonged to the late John Glenn.   (Courtesy of Adam Sackowitz via AP)

When future astronaut John Glenn nestled in his bed, it may not have been sugar plums that danced in his head, but celestial bodies. A recently discovered child's pillowcase that belonged to the late US senator and space hero depicts revolving planets, stars, and a view to outer space. At the center, a koala bear clings to some sort of spacecraft, reports the AP, labeled "John" in blue embroidered cursive. Adam Sackowitz, a graduate student from Queens, NY, purchased the pillowcase on March 8 for $2,500 at an estate sale of Glenn's possessions. An authentication certificate says it belonged to Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, during his childhood in the 1920s and early 1930s. The Ohio native died in 2016 at age 95.

Sackowitz joined the crowds who lined up for the estate sale in Potomac, Md., for the chance to buy mementos from Glenn's life. A rep from Greater Washington Estate Services said the event was organized by Glenn's children. The pillowcase was among a roomful of items they identified as belonging to their father. Sackowitz said he stretched his budget to buy the pillowcase because it "seemed to foretell John Glenn's future as an astronaut. I really wanted to buy it and see it preserved for history." He hopes to donate the item for display in Glenn's birthplace of Cambridge, Ohio, which got its first-ever historic marker commemorating its famous son in November. Glenn's celestial bedding could also go to the John & Annie Glenn Museum in New Concord, Ohio, where Glenn and his widow, whom he considered his hero, spent their childhoods.

(More John Glenn stories.)

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