Very cool old photo:

speeder · speeder's Garage

I love old stuff and I'm a restoration guy. A guy from my Airstream FB group posted this photo his dad took of JFK and LBJ stepping out of a brand new 1963 AS 24' Tradewind, (identical to mine), in June of 1963.

They were at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, touring the base and watching missiles fire. The guy who posted it was a child at the time, his family owned the local Airstream dealer and loaned their entire inventory to WSMR for the day. His dad was allowed to be there and tend to the trailers.

He said that the trailers has signs on them that said, "hospital", but they were really bars.

I'll be damned if the President and VP don't look tuned-up and happy in this photo. I'm a big fan of informal Presidential photos, regardless of the politics of the subjects. They are just interesting to me, in terms of showing the day to day lives of leaders.

masraum · 11-23-2016, 08:28 AM

Very cool.

BE911SC · 11-23-2016, 12:38 PM

I don't see LBJ.

Rinty · 11-23-2016, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BE911SC

I don't see LBJ.

I think it's the guy with the pith helmet.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rinty

I think it's the guy with the pith helmet.

Yep, he's the drunk guy with the funny hat.

BE911SC · 11-23-2016, 04:35 PM

LBJ was six feet, four inches tall. The guy with the pith helmet isn't LBJ.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by BE911SC

LBJ was six feet, four inches tall. The guy with the pith helmet isn't LBJ.

People were having this exact argument on the FB thread. It's the camera angle and depth of field that makes him look smaller. The SS agent closing the trailer door is very tall, ( compare to the guy next to him), LBJ is actually as tall as that guy.

Pretty sure it's him. He was definitely there that day, the guy who posted the picture said that his dad was complaining that LBJ was a slob because he pissed all over the toilet seat in the trailer.

I love presidential trivia like that. There are more good stories about LBJ than almost any other president.

KFC911 · 11-23-2016, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder

.....

I love presidential trivia like that. There are more good stories about LBJ than almost any other president.

I find it wierd when folks carry on a phone conversation sitting on the crapper.....LBJ was a man before his time

petrolhead611 · 11-24-2016, 01:57 AM

The trailer signboards were cut too short to get the whole word Hospitality thereon

yellowperil · 11-24-2016, 02:26 AM

Looked like a Texan that I would not want to monkey with.

Seahawk · 05:19 AM

It is LBJ. I frankly didn't think, as others stated, that the guuy in the pith helmet was LBJ. I had to find out...I am a big fan of those type of photos.

https://youtu.be/kkxkkBdEXp4

You can see LBJ in the video a few times: Same sunglasses with and without the helmet on, same suit pocket hankie, sitting up front, etc.

At the end, there is a quick view of the two trailers.

Different world.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Nice find on the video. JFK was a piece of work and a real Navy man, through and through.

KevinP73 · 08:35 AM

Wow Denis this is a huge coincidence. My father was a Nike missile specialist and was there when this pic was taken. He didn't talk much about his work but I recall him telling the story and showing pictures of JFK and LBJ visiting White Sands while he was there testing. He may actually be in the background of that pic, the shorter character in the light colored uniform, center of pic. I know I've seen the pictures in recent years, most likely in my sisters possession. I'll see if I can get my hands on them and post them for you.

Seahawk · 11-24-2016, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinP73

Wow Denis this is a huge coincidence. My father was a Nike missile specialist and was there when this pic was taken. He didn't talk much about his work but I recall him telling the story and showing pictures of JFK and LBJ visiting White Sands while he was there testing. He may actually be in the background of that pic, the shorter character in the light colored uniform, center of pic. I know I've seen the pictures in recent years, most likely in my sisters possession. I'll see if I can get my hands on them and post them for you.

That would be cool, very cool. There are other posters here that have parents who worked on the early missile programs.

The engineering, with slide rules, ink on paper, fairly pedestrian materials, volatile fuels, etc. is so outstanding. I just love it.

Great thread.

11-24-2016, 09:21 AM

It looks like JFK just finished up a nooner he got in a nearby Airstream. That's why he's smiling and straightening his coat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seahawk

There are other posters here that have parents who worked on the early missile programs.

The engineering, with slide rules, ink on paper, fairly pedestrian materials, volatile fuels, etc. is so outstanding. I just love it.

Great thread.

My dad was an engineer at Burroughs Corp. on the Atlas Missile guidance system, which was a computer that now fills an entire room in the Smithsonian. It had monumentally less computing power than my Cayman, but it pushed us into space and could put warheads on foreheads.

One night in the dead of winter he and two other Burroughs engineers had to transport the memory module (which was the size of a large television set) from Detroit to somewhere for a test, and they took it in the back of my parents' station wagon, covered with a blanket. At the time, it was Top Secret piece of hardware. They stopped in Ohio for the night, and the three of the took turns huddling in the car with a .45 guarding it in two-hour shifts.

Terry

speeder · speeder's Garage

Yes Kevin, that's amazing! The "small world" aspect of the internet never ceases to amaze me, (and frankly, freak me out). A guy responded to the FB thread and asked, (before the explanation of photo was given), "was that @ Holman AF base?"

Apparently, he was a small boy and saw JFK through the fence when they landed @ AF base that day.

I was just thrilled to learn that the rims on my trailer were originally black.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by petrolhead611

The trailer signboards were cut too short to get the whole word Hospitality thereon

This actually makes more sense than the "Hospital" story. Thanks.

Geneman · Geneman's Garage

you guys remeber the theLBJ "pig focker" story...
he told one of his aides to put out a news story that one of his political rivals was a pig focker. the aid says, " well clearly he is not..." LBJ said, "well, lets make him deny it..." hard ball texas politics back in the day..