1964 Topps — The Story of John F. Kennedy
12 Original Vintage Trading Cards · Professionally Framed Shadowbox Display
Original 1964 Memorial Issue · Museum-Style Mount · Ready to Hang
What You Are Getting
A striking 12-card curated display of original 1964 Topps "The Story of John F. Kennedy" trading cards — the iconic memorial set issued by Topps Chewing Gum in the year following President Kennedy's assassination. Each card is an original 1964 print (not a modern reissue), measuring the standard 2½" × 3½" trading card size, displaying sepia-toned black and white photographs of JFK across the arc of his life.
The cards are professionally mounted in a custom black shadowbox frame with a black archival mat cut to present each card individually in a clean 4 × 3 grid. The matte-black frame and crisp white mat edges create a gallery-quality presentation, finished behind glass and ready to hang — no additional framing or assembly required.
A curated selection rather than a full 77-card set, this display captures the most visually compelling moments from the Topps series: JFK as a young Naval officer, his wedding to Jacqueline Bouvier, campaign photographs, family life at Hyannis Port, and moments from the White House years.
Piece Details
| Set |
1964 Topps "The Story of John F. Kennedy" |
| Publisher |
Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. (T.C.G. copyright) |
| Year |
1964 — memorial issue following President Kennedy's death |
| Cards Included |
12 original cards from the 77-card series |
| Card Size |
2½" × 3½" (standard trading card) |
| Frame |
Matte black wood shadowbox, custom multi-aperture mat, glass |
| Approx. Framed Size |
Approximately 18" × 20" (wall-ready) |
| Themes Featured |
Navy service, wedding, family, campaign, White House moments |
| Condition — Cards |
Good to Very Good vintage condition, consistent with 60+ years of age |
| Condition — Frame |
Excellent — professionally assembled and sealed |
About the 1964 Topps Kennedy Series
Released in 1964 in the aftermath of the November 1963 assassination, the Topps "Story of John F. Kennedy" set was one of the first major mass-market tributes to the fallen President. Topps produced 77 cards in total, each measuring the standard 2½" × 3½" trading card format, with a large uncaptioned black-and-white photograph on the front and a horizontal biographical caption on the back set against a starry border and a Capitol Hill illustration.
What sets this set apart from typical political memorabilia of the era is its intimate, biographical approach. Rather than focusing only on presidential imagery, Topps traced Kennedy's entire arc — childhood, Harvard, his time as a PT-109 Naval officer in the Pacific, his courtship and marriage to Jacqueline Bouvier, his Congressional and Senate years, the 1960 campaign against Nixon, the White House, and the family moments that shaped his public image.
The set was issued by Topps under its T.C.G. copyright, and is considered a key entry in the non-sports trading card genre of the 1960s. While the cards themselves are not extremely scarce individually, original framed presentations of curated selections are genuinely rare — most surviving examples sit in boxes, binders, or complete sets awaiting a collector's display.
About John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963) served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Elected at age 43, he remains the youngest person ever elected to the American presidency. A decorated World War II Navy veteran — awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his actions after the sinking of PT-109 — Kennedy was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Profiles in Courage and served three terms in the U.S. House before winning the Senate seat from Massachusetts in 1952.
His presidency defined a generation: the creation of the Peace Corps, the founding of the Apollo lunar landing program, the Cuban Missile Crisis, civil rights legislation, and the imagery of "Camelot" that his widow Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis crafted in the days following his death. More than sixty years later, Kennedy remains one of the most culturally resonant figures in American history — and a cornerstone of the political and presidential memorabilia collecting category.
This 12-card display is more than a card assembly — it's a visual biography in miniature, assembled from Topps' 1964 tribute and preserved behind glass for viewing.
What Is Included
- 12 original 1964 Topps "The Story of John F. Kennedy" trading cards
- Custom black wood shadowbox frame, professionally assembled
- Black archival mat with 12 clean individual apertures
- Glass front, wired and ready to hang
- Gauntlet Gallery provenance documentation
Shipping & Handling
This framed piece will ship via UPS with full insurance coverage for the sale value and signature confirmation required on delivery. Packing is museum-grade: corner protectors on the frame, foam-board sandwich, double-wall corrugated carton, and fragile/glass labeling throughout. Tracking is provided the moment the label is generated.
International buyers welcome — please message before purchasing for a specific quote and customs documentation.
Collect the Kennedy Era
Gauntlet Gallery regularly stocks vintage political and presidential memorabilia — campaign buttons, signed photographs, original press prints, and framed displays. Browse our full collection of 20th century Americana and street art in our eBay store.
Authenticated · Archival · Gallery-Grade
GAUNTLET GALLERY
Authenticated Street Art & Collectibles · San Francisco · Est. 2012
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Questions? Message us directly through eBay and we will respond the same business day. Additional photographs, card-level condition reports, and checklist identification available on request.
