Rare and Unexpected Items from Extant Americana

Item 8 is a photograph of the Graf Zeppelin tethered to the Empire State Building. Did this actually happen? The answer is that it was supposed to. The idea was that the dirigible would moor to the top of the world's tallest building and a gangplank would allow passengers to move from the building to the airship. That is not a plank I would have wanted to walk. It turned out no one did. The wind currents alongside the building made the mooring way too unsteady. The photograph, then, is a fake, the ship and the building cut and pasted together in an early version of photoshopping. $750.

Extant Americana may be reached at 646-504-1775 or info@extantamericana.com. Their website is www.extantamericana.com.