Raynor HCA 2013-01
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/10/2013
Dinner plate, 10.5” diameter. Navy blue bordered in gilt, with the U.S. presidential seal in gilt in the center in a 2.75” white circle edged in gilt. Encircling the presidential seal are, in gilt, the coats of arms of 14 member states represented in the Inter American Press Association which held its 19th Annual Assembly at the Hotel Americana in Miami, Florida, November 16-22, 1963. Imprinted on the cream white underside, in olive green, “Syracuse / China / 930G U.S.A.” Syracuse China is today still one of the world’s leading suppliers of commercial china for the foodservice industry. Fine condition. This plate was produced especially for the “Dinner of the Inter American Press Association in honor of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy” held at the Hotel Americana in Miami Beach on November18, 1963. It was to be President Kennedy’s last official dinner. He did make an appearance at a testimonial dinner for Congressman Albert Thomas in Houston on November 21, 1963. President Kennedy was scheduled to speak at a Democratic fundraising dinner in Austin on Friday evening, November 22nd. In his November 18th address (copy included), President Kennedy spoke of Cuba and the future of the western hemisphere. In part, “Castroism, which a few years ago commanded the allegiance of thousands in almost every country, today has far fewer followers scattered across the continent. Experience in China, the Soviet Union, and in Cuba itself has revealed that the promises of abundance under tyranny are false. We ourselves can prove that democratic progress is the surest answer to the promises of the totalitarians. “These are the many fronts of the Alliance for Progress. The conduct of those fronts, the steady conquest of the surely yielding enemies of misery and hopelessness, hunger, and injustice is the central task for the Americas in our time. But no sense of confidence, of optimism in the future of the hemisphere as a whole, can conceal our feelings at the self-inflicted exile of Cuba from the society of American Republics. The genuine Cuban revolution, because it was against the tyranny and corruption of the past, had the support of many whose aims and concepts were democratic. But that hope for freedom and progress was destroyed. The goals proclaimed in the Sierra Maestra were betrayed in Havana. “It is important to restate what now divides Cuba from my country and from the other countries of this hemisphere. It is the fact that a small band of conspirators has stripped the Cuban people of their freedom and handed over the independence and sovereignty of the Cuban nation to forces beyond the hemisphere. They have made Cuba a victim of foreign imperialism, an instrument of the policy of others, a weapon in an effort dictated by external powers to subvert the other American Republics. This, and this alone, divides us. As long as this is true, nothing is possible. Without it, everything is possible. Once this barrier is removed, we will be ready and anxious to work with the Cuban people in pursuit of those progressive goals which a few short years ago stirred their hopes and the sympathy of many people throughout the hemisphere. “No Cuban need feel trapped between dependence on the broken promises of foreign communism and the hostility of the rest of the hemisphere. For once Cuban sovereignty has been restored we will extend the hand of friendship and assistance to a Cuba whose political and economic institutions have been shaped by the will of the Cuban people. But our pursuit of the goals of the Alianza para el Progreso does not wait on that day…” Provenance of this plate: Louis Ronco, Catering Sales and Service Manager of the Hotel Americana. Included are photocopies, some reproducing notations by Louis Ronco, of (1) November 19, 1963, almost full page “Miami Herald” newspaper article about Ronco and how he planned the dinner for the President. (2) four pages from the Program of the Inter American Press Association XIX Annual Assembly, of the events scheduled on Monday, November 18 and Friday, November 22. (3) both pages of the menu for the “Dinner / of the / Inter American Press Association / in honor of / The Honorable John Fitzgerald Kennedy / President of the United States / on Monday, the eighteenth of November / nineteen hundred and sixty-three / The Hotel Americana / Miami, Florida.” (4) photograph of the Grand Ballroom of the Americana before the dinner with a plate at each setting. (5) photograph of Pres. Kennedy in his motorcade. (6) photograph of Pres. Kennedy seated next to Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg in his car as it arrived at the Americana. (7) two photographs of Pres. Kennedy greeting local Democrats in a hotel suite prior to the dinner. He then changed into black tie which, according to “The White House Diary” entry for “Appointments for November 18, 1963,” was “Appropriate dress for head table guest.” The entry states that at 6:50 p.m., “The President proceeded via elevator to lobby floor…” and at 7:10 p.m. “The President proceeded to head table…” Since the two photographs greeting local Democrats picture him wearing a suit and long tie, he undoubtedly changed between 6:50 and 7:10 since he is wearing a bow tie at the dinner table. (8) two pages from “The White House Diary Appointments for November 18, 1963” from his arrival at the Americana at 5:50 p.m. to his arrival at the White House at 11:35 p.m. (9) two photographs of Pres. Kennedy, one seated at the head table, the other as he is being introduced. (10) group photograph of the entire catering department. Also included is the eight page U.S. Secret Service “Final Survey Report” on the “President’s visit to Miami, Florida, on November 18, 1963, to address the Inter-American Press Association.” This was reprinted from the “Cuban Information Archives” at Cuban-exile.com It states that at “8:30 p.m. The President, after being introduced by Mr. O’Farrell, spoke for 28 minutes” and that at “9:00 p.m. The President departed the hotel via automobile.” All security measures are listed in detail. Photocopies of three letters to Louis Ronco are present: (1) The Miami Herald, November 26, 1963. From Lilias D. MacCullough enclosing “the pictures I promised you. In view of the tragedy of last Friday, I am sure these pictures will be doubly precious to you…” (2) The Miami Herald, November 27, 1963. From Richard B. Yager, Public Service Supervisor, Promotion Department. “Enclosed are a dozen tearsheets of the November 19th Herald with your story…” (3) Inter American Press Association, New York, December 9, 1963. From Carlos A. Jimenez, Manager. “Please accept my warmest congratulations and my most sincere thanks for the way you handled the catering at our recent meeting … Particularly commendable was the organization of the banquet in honor of President Kennedy … I want to thank you for a very nice gesture you had with the IAPA - - the rebate on 75 guests after the Adjournment Banquet on November 22…”
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