John F. Kennedy Inaugural Invitations.

KENNEDY, John F. (Joe DiMaggio).

Item Number: 101468

Washington, D.C:, January 5, 1961.

Original Inaugural Committee invitation to the inauguration of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on Friday, January 20, 1961 from the collection of baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. Octavo, with the gilt Inaugural seal. Laid in is an invitation to the Inaugural Ball, ticket to the Inaugural ball, invitation to the Inaugural Concert, calendar of Inaugural activities, and the original transmittal envelopes for the invitations addressed to Joe DiMaggio. From the collection of Joe DiMaggio with a letter of provenance signed by his granddaughters Paula DiMaggio Hamra and Kathie DiMaggio Stein. Both Kennedy and DiMaggio had romantic relationships with Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. DiMaggio and Monroe were married at San Francisco City Hall on January 14th, 1954, marking the culmination of years of constant media attention. After their honeymoon in Japan and Korea, the couple returned to Hollywood where tension began to build due to DiMaggio’s discomfort with his wife’s vivacious image. In September of 1954, on the New York City set of the director Billy Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch, DiMaggio became irate as Monroe filmed the now-famous scene in which she stands over a subway grate with the air blowing up her skirt. The couple were divorced in October 1954, only 274 days after the day of their marriage ceremony. In May of 1962, Monroe took a break from shooting the 20th Century Fox film Something’s Got to Give, to sing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” on stage at President John F. Kennedy’s early birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York, drawing attention with her costume: a beige, skintight dress covered in rhinestones, which made her appear nude. When 36-year-old Monroe died of a drug overdose on August 5, 1962, DiMaggio handled her funeral arrangements. He barred Hollywood’s elite as well as members of the Kennedy family, including then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy, from attending. For the next two decades, until his own death in 1999, he sent roses several times a week to her grave at Westwood Village Memorial Cemetery in Los Angeles. In fine condition. A unique association.

Held on January 20th, 1961, the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy marked the commencement of Kennedy's only term as President and of Lyndon B. Johnson's only term as Vice President. Kennedy's inaugural address encompassed the major themes of his campaign and would define his presidency during a time of economic prosperity, emerging social changes, and diplomatic challenges. Kennedy's inauguration was the first in which a poet, Robert Frost, participated in the program.