Pin, Lindbergh, King Collection

A rectangular pale blue pin with gold lettering and gold images. The Spirit of St. Louis is in the middle between the Statue of Liberty, on the left, and the Eiffel Tower, on the right. The gold lettering reads "CAL N-X-211 Collector's Society." In very small print at the bottom of the pin a line reads "Organized to perpetuate the memory of the Man and the Machine."

On May 20-21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh literally flew into history when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis, thus becoming the first pilot to fly solo and nonstop from New York to Paris. This flight made Lindbergh a household name and catapulted him into fame and celebrity. The objects of popular culture in the National Collection display everything from ashtrays to wristwatches reflect the public adulation for Lindbergh and the powerful commercial response to his celebrity. More than 75 years after the Spirit's historic flight, Lindbergh's name still has the power help sell manufactured goods.