posted 07-19-2007 11:15 PM               

For me (as a broadcasting historian) it was made even more special when I found that my copy still had its letter in front, complete with a small card with William S. Paley's name printed on it.

posted 07-20-2007 08:50 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Mike Dixon:
Sheesh ... you're not wrong about 10:56:20.

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Last year when I was shopping for mine, the usual online OOP sources I use (alibris, abebooks.com among others) was showing decent-condition copies for in the $120 US range. Out of desperation I did a Google search and found an online antiques shop that had a copy for $85 or so. The dust jacket on mine is worn and the front cover has a very subtle bow to it, but the inside is as good as the day it was printed.

posted 07-22-2007 09:42 PM               

I have a few other network-produced volumes in my collection, and though some were obviously sold via bookstores (i.e., NBC's "Seventy Hours and Thirty Minutes" about NBC's coverage of the JFK assassination), I have a few other volumes in my collection that do much the same as "10:56:20" but appear to have been produced for the affiliates and other members of the network family. I'm trying to figure out where "10:56:20" fits in on that scale.

[ON EDIT: In reviewing Alfred R. Hogan's master's thesis on "Televising The Space Age," I found the following statement in regards to "10:56:20": "About 20,000 copies were printed and distributed to NASA leaders, U.S. members of Congress, foreign heads of state, college libraries, and others."]

posted 07-25-2007 01:28 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by ea757grrl:
To help me out a bit with some backstory, do you remember how you got it (i.e., was it a bookstore, or a gift from someone with connections to a CBS affiliate, or some other means)?

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I received it 1971 when I was 11 years old, given to me an "aunt" (close friend of my parents) as our family was helping her pack up her belongings after her divorce. Her husband was a childhood friend of my father's, and during the flight of Apollo 11 he decided that he wanted to join in (cash in on)the "excitement of the mission" by selling jars of "Moon Dust" in Central Park in New York (and any store in New York City he could convince to carry it)just after the landing. He mixed up a concoction in his garage that he thought lunar soil might look like, after I showed him a photo from the lunar surface from Surveyor after it had dug a trench into the surface. He had some "official" looking labels made that we all spent hours sticking on small jars, and apponted me the "technical advisor" for the project. I had pointed out to him that this wasn't exactly honest, but my father explained that after coping with a long bout of rheumatic fever (remember, this was 1969)they were in pretty serious financial trouble, so we should do our best to help.

The story was that someone saw a dusty jar of "Moon Dust" on a store shelf in Manhattan sometime in 1970 and arranged a swap - a copy of the book for a case of "Moon Dust." My uncle got the book, but since I was the "technical advisor," my aunt thought I should have it. That's how I got it. My uncle, as far as I know, didn't have any CBS connections - he, along with my father were elevator constructors in New York during the 1960s.

posted 07-25-2007 09:01 AM               

The seller stated that the book had been a donation to the library that they didn't need and were selling it as a fund raiser for the library.

They believe that Mr. Offield was a geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey.

posted 10-26-2008 09:37 AM               

To celebrate the first landing on the moon, (CBS President Frank) Stanton proposed a limited-edition book, which Mr. Dorfsman designed with a special cover embossed to look and feel like the lunar surface. This and other promotional pieces set a standard for broadcast advertising.

posted 10-27-2008 08:06 PM               

Now reading this thread, I see it is a desired collectible. My book is in good shape, the dust jacket is a little worn, but it still has the certificate and business card. I am really excited to have such a gem in my collection.

posted 10-29-2008 03:33 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MrSpace86:
Would it be wrong (as in degrade the value) if either (or both) Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins signed the book?

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I wouldn't really see harm in having them sign it; it's about Apollo 11, after all, and while it's a rare book, there are enough copies of it that it's not irreplaceable. I personally think it would enhance the value a little, but maybe that's just me.

posted 08-27-2010 06:16 PM               

Then, last week, I got an email catalog update from Boggs Spacebooks that listed a "fine w/very good DJ" copy for $165. I'd bought from Don & Tamara before, and I knew I could rely on them to deal fairly and not misrepresent the condition of the book. Given what I'd seen previously, I figured this was about as good a balance between condition and price as I was likely to find, so I pulled the trigger.

Got it today, and I wasn't disappointed. Casually leafing through it, I can see why it's so sought-after. This is a snapshot of a seminal moment in history, one that I was born too late to witness. From the transcripts of Cronkite, Schirra, & co.'s actual coverage, to accounts of the atmosphere in the studio as events unfolded, to CBS correspondents' reportage of the reaction in other nations around the world, from the impressions of various "personalities" such as Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury to those of an American soldier in Vietnam...it's just magical. And it makes me wonder if it's reasonable, or even possible, to be nostalgic for a time and place one never actually experienced.

(On a less "heavy" note, I couldn't help but wonder how the founder of Ms. magazine might have felt about being quoted as "Miss Steinem." I suspect that the Mad Men-era boys might have been getting one of their last licks in with that.)

Browsing 10:56:20 is, ultimately, a bittersweet experience. It simultaneously transmits the euphoria of being witness to one of humanity's singular achievements, and yet it makes me all the more melancholy at the increasingly remote possibility that I'll live to see it repeated.

posted 08-27-2010 10:17 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by ea757grrl:
(Now, imagine a copy of "10:56:20" signed by Walter Cronkite!)

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Actually, mine is signed by Cronkite; when he saw it his comment was "That's one of the best things we ever did."

Now, my question is, who has a copy signed by Dorfsman?

posted 08-27-2010 10:31 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Go4Launch:
Actually, mine is signed by Cronkite; when he saw it his comment was "That's one of the best things we ever did."

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posted 02-27-2012 03:45 AM               

• Salant
  
• Paley
  
• Jenks
  
• Stanton
  
• Brown