Box, Toy, Space Helmet, "Men Into Space"

This original box contained a toy "Men into Space" play helmet that allowed its owner to pretend to be Colonel Ed McCauley, the star character (depicted by William Lundigan) in the television program, "Men into Space" (1959–60). In its one season of half hour black and white programs, "Men into Space" depicted the realistic adventures of Colonel Edward McCauley, head of a fictional American space program. Aimed at adults, executed with the cooperation of the Department of Defense, and aired on CBS, "Men into Space" offered a fact-based depiction of space flight in the near future of the budding space age. It was produced by Ziv Television Programs, Inc., a Midwestern company known as the leading producer of first-run syndicated programming.

John C. Fredriksen, who is also the author of an eponymous episode guide to Men into Space, gave an example of the toy helmet--and this original box--to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 2013.