"This Made Me Smile..."

Today is the 54th Anniversary of the First Manned Moon Landing

I was reminded of it when I ran across this art from the brand Duluth Trading Co.  Although the onlooker in the scene is apparently abhorred by what he see, I'd like to think that he enjoyed the view. If you look at the photographs from the era, you might think only heterosexual waspy men were a part of the space program, but the truth is that we were all a part of mankind's most ambitious effort ever. 

Components of the mission came from all over the country and were manufactured by some of the most unlikely but well-known companies in the world. Workers at Chrysler Corporation here in Detroit made key components of the Saturn 5 rocket. The spacesuits were manufactured by the good folks at Playtex, makers of the cross-your-heart bra! In fact folks in almost every industry and from every state in the country lent their skills and expertise to the challenges of President Kennedy's promise. 

So, I'm sure that gay men and women contributed to the success of that incredible achievement as well. I especially enjoyed the film "Hidden Figures" which highlighted the real life role and struggles of the black women who helped perform the complex mathematical computations that brought our intrepid explorers safely to the moon and back again.

Here's the original advertisement and although I couldn't discover who the artist was, I have no doubt that his tongue-in-cheek (pun absolutely intended!) illustration was slyly executed to be viewed in more than just the humorous context of the ad.

Duluth Trading Co.

Read my recollection of this day in 1969 tonight at 9:30 in my post, "I Am Always Remembering"