Frequently Asked Questions
Presidential Giveaways

I'm thinking about buying a pen off e-bay. The seller claims that the pen was used by President Johnson to sign a bill. Is there anyway of knowing if he really used this pen?

The pens that LBJ used were either Esterbrook Inkomats, a pen with a clear plastic body inscribed "The President/The White House" and a black grip but without a cap. About the end of August 1965 he began to use Eversharps felt-tip, blue plastic with the Presidential Seal, his signature and "The White House" on the side, and a silvertone cap. These pens are available through other sources, thus the pen itself does not give a clue to whether it was use to sign bills.
The ones that the library has identified as associated with a particular event came in a small box with an insert identifying the bill signed. The absence of such a box does not imply that it was not used at the signing. LBJ would use a number of pens for a signing and would present those pens unboxed to supporters of the bill and other dignitaries in the signing ceremony.

My husband received a pen in a black frame with a congratulatory letter from LBJ and Lady Bird. The pen is gold with a presidential seal and LBJ's signature in black ink. Was it used to sign a bill?

This sounds like one of the souvenir pens the LBJ Library and Museum found among the many examples of LBJ's giveaway items. This one has a brushed finish with some bands of polished finish and is made by Readyriter. He did not use those pens for bill-signing. Pens sent to someone would have some sort of ID identifying it.

I have several of the White House Bill Signing Esterbrook Pens in their original boxes. How do I know from what time period they would have been used in The White House?

Not all of these pens were used for signing bills. Not only were they used for other, possibly ceremonial purposes, but were undoubtedly given away as a small spur-of-the-moment gifts. Unused pens are/were available for sale at our museum store.
In the case of a very important bill, each stroke is made by a different pen and the signature is extended by including the date, the place of signing, etc., in order to produce more "used" pens to give away.
President Eisenhower did use this pen at least in 1958, pens from the Truman administration are quite different. President Kennedy used this pen most, if not all, of the time. LBJ used it until late August 1965.

I found a cigarette lighter that used to belong to Lyndon B. Johnson that left while visiting a dignitary. It's a Zippo with a bronze label Vice President of the United States on the front and his autograph on the back side. Can you tell me more?

The lighter in question would not have been his personally, but a lighter that he gave to some individual that he had met during the course of his visit.
All politicians occasionally give small gifts to strangers, acquaintances, and colleagues. President Johnson did so with great regularity. The library has a large collection of examples of LBJ's "giveaways." The lighter you describe sounds like a variation of the Zippo lighters at the library. For example, there are a number of these with the presidential seal on one side, and a facsimile signature on the reverse.

I have a Zippo lighter with the Vice Presidential Seal. How do I find out if it's an original engraving and if it is worth anything??

The lighter has a facsimile signature engraved on it--meaning that a machine made it using Lyndon Johnson's signature as a pattern. The museum cannot give you a value on it. Political collectors can usually appraise such an item. It would probably depend on how many of them are in circulation.

I have a Zippo given to someone by LBJ, I was told only 50 were made, can you tell me more?

Unfortunately, there are not records of how many of these Zippos were produced for giveaway purposes. It is entirely possible they were produced in a limited number, but there is no way of knowing for sure.

I have a small pocketknife that contains a blade, scissors and a file. One side it has LBJ's signature and on the reverse side it has the presidential seal embossed in faux gold. I was told it was given out as a gift. Do you have any insight into the time period and reason it was given out? Is it worth anything as a collector's item?

We have examples of this small knife in the museum collection. It is considered an LBJ "giveaway," meaning that it is an item from a stock of small gifts available to the president for impulse giving. It is a common practice for politicians to give small gifts to their colleagues, visiting constituents, friends, and guests at every opportunity. The LBJ Library and Museum does not possess any record of when it was given out, but it was during the presidency and he probably continued to give them out as small gifts after he retired. There would be some amount of "association" value with such an item, tempered by the fact there are probably several thousand of them in the public. If you would like to sell the item contact a political collector.

As a collector, I recently purchased a lucrite paperweight, measuring 3.5" square containing a bronze medallion. The paperweight is inscribed "Presented by LYNDON B. JOHNSON Vice President for the United States of America 1963." The medallion has the profile buses of both President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson on the reverse. Could you tell me any more information?

The artist is Philip Kraczkowski, who was born in 1916. It was struck by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, MA. There were 4,000 of the bronze. The first 150 had an error, stating that LBJ was the 37th Vice President.
The portrait profiles on the medal were originally commissioned to provide a souvenir charm for the inaugural ball. LBJ also gave away a number of those.
Johnson was upset that he was not on the official souvenir inaugural medal designed by Paul Manship--although traditionally the VP is never on the medal. Kraczkowski, who had designed the charms, was asked to produce it. Because of the time constraints, he designed for the gold medal the obverse or portrait side only--improving on the hastily made and unflattering first profile of LBJ on the charm. The inaugural committee officially approved the design in order to give it credibility and the commercial bronze issue has the seals, etc. on the reverse as also designed by Kraczkowski. It is possible that Johnson acquired a number of the bronze ones to give as gifts and had the paperweight made from those.**

Sources:

Collectors Guide to Presidential Inaugural Medals and Memorabilia, H. Joseph Levine, 1981, Johnson & Jensen, Danbury, Connecticut.

The Medallic Portraits of John F. Kennedy (A Study of Kennediana) with Historical and Critical Notes and a Descriptive Catalogue of the Coins, Medals, Tokens and Store Cards Stuck in His Name, Edward C. Rochette, 1966, Krause Publications, Iola, WI.

The President's Medal: 1789-1877, Neil MacNeil, 1977, Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., New York, in association with the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

**The Library's description is only a paraphrase of the above sources, please quote from the original sources.

I recently purchased two crystal birds on eBay that have the inscription of "Lady Bird" on the bottom. The seller claims to have gotten them from someone at the Whitehouse during LBJ's administration. Could you please tell me more information?

The LBJ Library and Museum have examples of this little bird, it was made by the Hadelands Glassverk in Norway and is termed "icebird." The Lady Bird signature would have been engraved on the individual pieces as part of a special order. Mrs. Johnson has two little glass birds, somewhat larger and without the inscription on her credenza in her LBJ Library office that is now part of her exhibit.

The story of the Icebird's follows:

Occasionally in olden days, lone hunters in the North would come upon transparent birds. These Icebirds perched on snow banks or sticks protruding from the frozen landscape.
Quietly, the hunters would sneak up on them and carefully pick them up in their hands, and bring them home. There they would put them in sealskin bags marked with mystic symbols and keep them there until midsummer night. Then, just as the midnight sun appeared the hunters would release them and watch them all fly away happily together like glittering crystals into the sunlit glory of the icy north.

I recently acquired a solid 14k gold tie clasp with an airplane, the initials LBJ, and the year 1964, can you tell me if it has any special significance?

President Johnson's giveaway items include a variety of cufflinks, tie bars and clasps, in several metals. We believe that some of them were made and sold by Morgan's Inc., St. Charles, IL.
The airplane on the tie bar indicates that it was given to an individual who traveled on Air Force One. It is not necessarily a campaign item, but the year 1964 could indicate there is a connection to the election year.

I am looking for more information on Resistol hats that were made exclusively for President LBJ. Did he give these as gifts?

The gift Resistol hats have "Johnson City/LBJ Ranch" and a gold Texas shape printed on the lining. The hat appears to be a gift that he tended to give to friends, a more personal gesture, on that also expressed his pride in his native Texas.

I am a collector of Presidential history, I recently purchased a Benrus alarm watch. It displays LBJ's initials under the "12" and around the face it reads: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Can you provide any additional information.

Politicians usually giveaways small items like pens, and career politicians may take this further. In particular, LBJ gave away items of greatly varying quality to recipients ranging from a citizen visitors, members of his staff, to close associates. The occasions varied from spur-of-the-moment to formal gift-giving opportunities. The watch you have would not be one that was casually given. However, more expensive and elegant gifts were among the items that he commissioned for gift-giving purposes.

I received a medallion from President Johnson while serving in the Army in Thailand in 1966. Could you give me more information?

The medallion is bronze and was designed by Ralph Menconi and produced by Medallic Art. The medallion was specifically produced for the president to distribute during his lengthy Asian-Pacific trip in 1966. The obverse is a bas-relief portrait of LBJ with a facsimile signature. It is similar to other medallions produced for other trips and occasions, the obverse is the same on all of them.