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Auction: 4020 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 59

Mementoes of Samuel Franklin Cody A Vanity Fair Supplement Cartoon, Nº 1303 of the MEN OF THE DAY series, by Alick P. F. Ritchie, captioned "All British", 151/4 in. x 10 in. in glazed frame 183/4 in. x 133/4 in. overall; a picture postcard (unstamped), entitled Cody in Flight; and a souvenir programme of the "Cody" Benefit Matinée held at the London Hippodrome on Tuesday 16th September 1913 under the patronage of Prince Arthur of Connaught, a 76-page document containing lists of patrons and managers, contributors, acts and performers, with tributes, drawings, cartoons, verses, photographs of performers and advertisements, in a blue card cover, the front mounted with a coloured illustration of an aircraft attacking a submarine, by L. Carr Cox (3) Estimate £ 150-180 "Papa" Cody. as he was known to the British press, was no relation of Buffalo Bill Cody, but also American by birth. In his colourful early career he had been a cowboy in Texas, a gold-prospector in the Klondike and a Wild West showman. He was illiterate, wore shoulder-length hair, a ten-gallon hat and Western boots. He also carried a Colt revolver which he sometimes used to open locked hangar doors. His made his debut in aviation as a builder of giant man-carrying kites, and became the kiting instructor at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough. There he was involved with the Nulli Secundus airship project (see note to Lot 63 below) which ended with the deflating of the airship in 1907. Cody adopted the Antoinette engine (used in the Nulli Secundus) to power an aeroplane of his own design, which flew the following year. In 1912, when the Royal Flying Corps was formed and competitive trials were held to select its aircraft, Cody's plane, nicknamed "The Flying Cathedral" was chosen and designated Army Aeroplane No 1, winning a £5000 prize for its designer. Cody became heavily involved with the RFC in the ensuing year, and was frequently referred to as Colonel Cody, although his name does appear in any Army List before his death in a flying accident in August 1913. It had been supposed that his £5000 prize would have made him a relatively rich man. However, it transpired almost immediately after his death that he had spent all that sum, and more, on further aviation projects, leaving his widow destitute. It was for this reason that the Benefit Matinee was held just a month after Cody's death.

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£120