OK this is definitely under the category of ephemera. It is a 21 x 32 inch poster of Casper (the Friendly Ghost) flying along with the Apollo 16 Command module over the Moon.
It is probably an artist's proof from someone at Harvey Comics (the "owner's" of Casper)
You can just see the Harvey copyright on this. The reason it was created was because the Command module of Apollo 16 was named Casper. At some point the Apollo 16 astronuats were talking to some children about walking on the Moon and one remarked that the astronauts in their white suits looked like Casper the Friendly Ghost. The crew decided to name their command module Casper to appeal to children's imaginations. The lunar module was called Orion. I have not be able to find out yet whether this poster was ever published.
I do love the juxtaposition of fantasy and reality in this image. Which is harder to believe: ghosts or that a manned ship flew to the moon? The only other information I have been able to dig up since I found this beauty is that a smaller image was issued as a button that I was able to find on a space collector's site.
Love this page; stumbled on by accident, as often happens in internet searches. I was seeking confirming info on Apollo 16, long one of my favorite space missions because of the Casper link. Wish I had copies of the artifacts you display! (I dragged copies of the photos to my desktop for screensaver purposes.) Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI remember there were a few references to the mission in the Casper comics of the time!
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