Gulf Oil stations gave these away as a promotional item. As Apollo 11 approached the Moon, many kids and their parents were attempting to assemble the darn things. I wasn't easy - there were a lot of parts to punch out, folded and tabs to be inserted into slots. I think it took me hours to assemble. But when it was done, it was beautiful.
I can't remember what happened to it, but a few years ago I picked up an original on ebay. I decided to keep it in it's unassembled form, but the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 inspired me to search out a replica.
Via Google's Lunar X Prize, you can download a printable Lunar Lander model!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Gulf OIl's Cardboard Lunar Lander
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4 comments:
I remember that as well, was telling a guy about it today and decided to do a search, and viola, there it was. I was 9 when I got mine and my older brother-in-law had to help me put it together, I was pretty frustrated. Thanks for sharing.
I was 12 at the time and I grabbed a big stack of those things. They were great fun to put together and made a very nice little model. It was imperative to look and follow the directions very closely. I still have four of these that are fully intact un-assembled sheets. Three of them are mint.
I got one from the gas station near the launch site. I watched that sucker blast off from a distance at a small motel.
TG - Some of my earliest memories were watching launches from Cocoa Beach motels.
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