The torch used on the opening ceremony on the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics is up for public sale and bids have exceeded $200,000. The public sale describes the merchandise as “one of many rarest Olympic torches ever made” and its rarity is matched by its intrinsic magnificence and historic worth. I can think about this torch being the last word dialog piece for one of many baller houses in Olympic Valley however I’ll go together with an Indiana Jones quote with my sentiments “It belongs in a museum!” The present bid is $201,315 however I feel that can go up within the subsequent 48 hours. The public sale closes on July 18th, if you want to trace the bids GO HERE:
Extremely uncommon, extremely sought-after torch of the Squaw Valley 1960 Winter Olympics—one of many rarest Olympic torches ever made
Excessively uncommon official torch of the Squaw Valley 1960 Winter Olympics, marked as quantity “10” on the underside of the deal with, comprised of silver aluminum and measuring 19˝ lengthy, thought-about to be among the many rarest and most respected of all Olympic torches. Impressed by the Ralph Lavers design of the torches utilized in 1948 and 1956, this torch was designed by legendary Disney ‘imagineer’ John Hench, and options three Olympic rings cutouts across the bowl, above a round legend: “VIII Olympic Winter Video games.” Under is the Squaw Valley Video games emblem between two branches and the legend “Olympia to Squaw Valley.” The burner wick stays in place. The torch displays some minor scuffing to the bowl and deal with. Consignor notes that this was acquired from the property of a California state worker who was chargeable for the security of the torch runners.
Curiously, Walt Disney served as chairman of the Pageantry Committee for the 1960 Squaw Valley Video games, whose duties included the group of the torch relay. One in every of his Disney artists, John Hench, designed the torch, the 16-foot snow-sculptures that lined the Avenue of Athletes, and the large, 79-foot-tall Tower of Nations that marked the staging space the place the opening and shutting ceremonies have been held.
The torch’s legend, “Olympia to Squaw Valley,” signifies the route initially envisioned for the relay previous the VIII Olympic Winter Video games. Nevertheless, the Hellenic Olympic Committee, knowledgeable a month earlier than the Video games, didn’t have sufficient time to prepare a lighting ceremony on the conventional web site. As a substitute, the Olympic flame was lit in Morgedal, Norway, on the house of the ‘father of contemporary snowboarding,’ Sondre Norheim, then transported by automotive to Copenhagen by way of Oslo. The flame was then flown to Los Angeles, the place the relay carried it north by way of Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, San Francisco, and Sacramento, earlier than arriving at Squaw Valley.
On the day of the Opening Ceremony, the torch was carried by American skier Andrea Mead Lawrence, who was accompanied by eight members of the Nationwide Ski Patrol. The flame was handed to the final torchbearer, skater Kenneth Charles Henry, who did a lap of the ice in entrance of the Blyth Memorial Enviornment earlier than lighting the cauldron during which the flame would burn all through the Video games.
