Apollo 7 Flown Television Cue Card from Wally Schirra's Collection

This cue card was flown on Apollo 7. It was part of a set that was used during the Emmy winning television broadcasts from space.   There was apparently a set of 5 cards printed up for the flight.

The "Keep Those Cards And Letters Coming In Folks" is probably the most famous of the cards.
Another card of stated, "From The Lovely Apollo Room High Atop Everything." A fourth card asked NASA Public Affairs Officer Paul Haney if he was a turtle.   The fifth card asked Deke Slayton if he was a turtle.

The cards were printed on fireproof card stock. To the best of our knowledge the "You Bet Your Life" card although flown, never made it on one of the Apollo 7 television broadcasts.

Two of the cards are now is on display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.   Two of the other cue cards remained in the Wally Schirra collection until he consigned them for auction.

On March 25, 1995 Odyssey Auctions placed this card along with the "Apollo Room" card up for auction in their Space And Aviation Autographs And Memorabilia Auction.

This was lot number 63 in that auction. The description in the auction catalog stated, "63. Humorous Cue Cards Flown Aboard Apollo VII. Two cue cards, both used by Schirra as a gag on the flight. One, depicting two astronauts, reads 'From the lovely Apollo Room high atop everything', the second depicts a pair of dice and says 'You Bet Your Life'. One card contains handwritten notes on the back by Schirra. One-of-a-kind."

Mike Smithwick purchased this lot in the Odyssey auction. Shortly after that Mr. Smithwick split the lot and sold the "You Bet Your Life" card to this museum. Accompanying the card was a hand written note by Mr. Smithwick which stated, "Flown Apollo 7 Card. This card was flown on board the Apollo 7 spacecraft from October 11 to 22, 1968. It was used in a series of humorous TV broadcasts sent back from the spacecraft. The card was purchased from Odyssey Auctions, March 26, 1995 as lot #63."

Later, the Earth To The Moon Air And Space Museum obtained a type written statement that was hand signed by Astronaut Schirra attesting to the authenticity of this artifact.