John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe 1962 "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" MSG New York Advertising Poster. ...

Description

A LEGENDARY CONFLUENCE OF KENNEDY, MONROE, AMERICANA & POP CULTURE

John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe 1962 "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" MSG New York Advertising Poster. An original cardboard window card advertising some of the world's most famous talent feting President John Fitzgerald Kennedy at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, May 19, 1962. This night is best remembered for the moment when Marilyn Monroe seductively sang "Happy Birthday" from the stage to JFK, an electric moment of pop-culture and political history colliding.

Monroe sang the traditional birthday song in a very sexy delivery, adorned in a skintight dress, with "Mr. President" inserted in place of "John." She then continued along with a snippet of "Thanks for the Memory," making up new lyrics that fit JFK and the situation. When a large birthday cake was rolled out and Kennedy took the stage, he cracked, "I can now retire from politics after having had Happy Birthday sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way." Jacqueline Kennedy, btw, was not in attendance. Monroe would be dead less than three months later.

Tickets ranging from $10 to $100 in 1962 was simply off the charts, but this night was a very big deal, of course. As it says on the poster, "The Most Exciting Program Ever Staged!" The other superstar talent listed were Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Durante, Bobby Darin, Jack Benny, Maria Callas, Diahann Carroll, Henry Fonda, Danny Kaye, Peggy Lee, Nichols & May, the Jerome Robbins Ballet Group "and many others." We can't think of another 60's entertainment poster which such A-list talent until you get to the Woodstock Festival poster in August 1969. The difference being these were all superstars of stage and screen, too, not just music.

This is one of only two known specimens of this rare event poster; there's also a much smaller paper handbill, which we're offering here as well. Measures 13 7/8" x 20" and grades to Very Good condition. From the David Swartz Concert Poster Collection. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: The show's date fell 10 days before Kennedy actually turned 45, on May 29.

Condition details: Poster was once folded, creating two horizontal creases running side-by-side through Jack Benny and Judy Garland. A slight bit of the blue color is broken along the way. There is some scuffing to the red at the top above "New" and into "York." The four corners are just a little bit soft and rounded. There's a slight ding to the red edge by Kennedy's head. There's about half-a-dozen surface creases in the red and blue, an inch or two long, such as under "Diahann Carroll." General overall toning.


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