President John F. Kennedy’s rocking chair will soon be up for auction in Dallas, along with Jack Ruby’s wallet and a deck chair from the Titanic.
These items, along with more than 80 other unique historical artifacts, are scheduled to be sold by Heritage Auctions on December 1.
The P&P Carolina Rocker belonged to White House Physician Dr. Janet P. Travell and was the first rocking chair in which JFK sat during his visit to her office as a young senator in May 1955, according to Heritage.
Dr. Travell also treated Kennedy’s chronic back pain with this chair both while he was a senator and while he was president. This chair is the “Genesis” of all the “Kennedy Rockers” that came after, according to Heritage.
The rocker is accompanied by an “extensive archive” of provenance, including letters sent between Kennedy and Dr. Travell and photos of the doctor seated in the chair.
Bidding for the chair will open at $50,000. In May, Heritage Auctions sold a similar rocker commissioned by President Kennedy for nearly $600,000.
Many more documents and artifacts related to JFK are set to be sold in this auction as well, including a typewriter he used to type his speeches.
Also being auctioned is the wallet Jack Ruby was carrying when he shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963. The wallet is accompanied by its contents, including his business card for Carousel Strip Club, which he owned in Dallas. Bidding for the wallet will open at $10,000.
The upcoming auction will also be selling a White Star Line steamer deck chair from the RMS Titanic gifted to photographer Thomas Barker, who captured photos of the ship’s crew and passengers while it was docked in Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland on April 11, 1912. The bidding for this chair will open at $45,000.
The live auction begins at 1 p.m. on December 1 and can be joined in person, by phone, or online.