I Lift My Lamp Beside the Golden Door

On this date in 1849 poet Emma Lazarus was born in New York City.  All Americans should at least be aquainted with her words.  They are inscribed on a bronze plaque on the pedestal beneath The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

This is one of 50 cards from the T99 Sights and Scenes of the World set issued in 1911.  I can't get enough antique gold borders.

The New Colossus

BY EMMA LAZARUS

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

By melanzane1013 - Emma Lazarus plaque, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8063708

Happy Anniversary Hall of Famer Ron Santo

Seven years ago today Ron Santo was posthumously enshrined in Cooperstown.  Maybe I'll have a Snickers in his honor.

This image (not an exact replica) is a little weird.

The real one.

Do you ever find youself appreciating the packaging as much as the actual collectible.  

This is my all-time favorite  image of Ron.  I have a framed colorized copy hanging on a wall in my house.

This is the favorite collectible I own.

Tanquilty Base...The Eagle Has Landed

July 20, 1969.  There are a handful of other dates in our history that hold as much significance, but this may be the most inspring.

There were nearly nine million first day covers produced feating this stamp.  Here's a link to the story.

Here's a cover from the 10th anniversary.  The image is "silk".

This is one of the iconic photographs from the mission.

Headlines and press releases were ready in the case that the LEM failed to make it off the moon.  Thankfully all went smoothly.  

We Have a Liftoff! Man on the Way to the Moon!

It was fifty years ago to the minute that Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong began their historic journey to the moon and back.  I was a kid but I can't pull up any substantial memories of that day.  I can still watch in wonder at the videos, as many of you have been doing over the last weeks.

Happy 4th of July!

Today always makes me think of this great song by Chicago:

And this one from an earlier era: