Peak season notice: Shipping for this category may take 14–21 business days after cleared payment. Thanks for your patience.
Yuri Gagarin Autograph Postcard, Signed Twice, to General Nikolai Kamanin and Originally from Kamanin's Personal Collection, ...
Description
Yuri Gagarin Autograph Postcard, Signed Twice, to General Nikolai Kamanin and Originally from Kamanin's Personal Collection, postmarked December 30, 1961, with Certificate of Authenticity from PSA/DNA. A chromolithographed New Year postcard, 4.125 x 5.75", printed by the Ministry of Communications of the USSR, 1961. On the front, a child cosmonaut rides a red rocket inscribed "СССР" through space, bearing a fir branch; printed greeting "С НОВЫМ ГОДОМ!" (Happy New Year!). On the reverse, Gagarin has written in ink a holiday message to General Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin and his wife, Maria Ivanovna, reading (translated):"Dear Nikolai Petrovich and Maria Ivanovna! Congratulations on the New Year 1962! I wish you good health, much success in your work, and all the best! - Gagarin."
Addressed in Gagarin's hand to Kamanin's Moscow residence on Serafimovich Street and again signed by Gagarin as sender. A rare and historic New Year greeting sent only eight months after Gagarin's pioneering Vostok 1 flight, warmly addressed to the officer who trained and oversaw the first generation of cosmonauts. Fine, with clear postmark and signature. PSA/DNA COA included.
This design, by artist G. V. Shubina, is among the most recognizable of early-1960s Soviet New Year postcards, celebrating the nation's pride in its space achievements following Gagarin's flight in April 1961. The imagery merges the cosmic optimism of the space age with the childlike innocence of holiday tradition, a recurring theme in Khrushchev-era propaganda art. From an important collection of Soviet-era Space history
Auction Info
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid (minimum $49) per lot.
This lot is in: 1 -
Signature® Floor Session (Live Floor, Live Phone, Mail, Fax, Internet, and Heritage Live):
(Lots 50001-50227) - 10:00 AM Central Time, Thursday, December 11, 2025.
[Proxy bidding ends ten minutes prior to the session start time. Live Proxy bidding on Heritage Live now starts within 2 hours of when the auction opens for proxy bidding and continues through the live session.]
Exhibition Viewing Times, Title Page, Floor Session and License Information
Additional Location Info:
Heritage Auctions
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms