Commemorative Gold Silk Ribbon from Ziegfeld Theatre "Rio Rita" Gala (1927)

Gold silk ribbon from the Ziegfeld Theatre gala performance of Rio Rita in honor of Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh on June 15, 1927. — Commemorative Gold Silk Ribbon from Ziegfeld Theatre "Rio Rita" Gala (1927) · Donald A. Hall Estate Collection

A historic printed gold silk commemorative ribbon from the Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway in New York City, reading: "RIO RITA / ZIEGFELD THEATRE / Performance in honor of Col. Charles A. Lindbergh / June the fifteenth, Nineteen hundred and twenty-seven." On May 19, 1927, Lindbergh had purchased tickets to see the musical Rio Rita but famously skipped the show when a midnight weather clearance allowed him to prepare for his historic takeoff at dawn. Following his triumphant return to New York, theatrical impresario Florenz Ziegfeld held this exclusive gala encore performance in Lindbergh's honor, and this personal commemorative ribbon was preserved in Donald A. Hall Sr.'s estate collection.