Slapstick politics links to this blurb about one of the original copies (jumbo shrimp) of the Declaration of Independence heading to Denver during the convention.
Slapstick Politics: Democratic National Convention Countdown, No. 10.
“One of the 25 surviving original copies of the Declaration of Independence will head to Denver after display Friday and Saturday at the Utah Capitol. It’s on a tour of 17 cities as part of a voter-registration drive. After leaving Salt Lake, it will go to Denver for display during the Democratic National Convention.”
It’s owned by Norman Lear (“All in the Family”), and according to this article, it has an interesting story behind it.
A Philadelphia man bought a frame at a flea market for $4 and found the copy tucked in behind the framed picture. He thought it was a souvenir version printed for the centennial of the signing, but eventually its authenticity was confirmed.
He sold it for $2.4 million in 1991, and it was put up for auction again in 2000, when it was sold for $8.4 million to Norman Lear, producer of television shows like “All In The Family.”
Lear took the document on the road, exhibiting the Declaration of Independence in dozens of cities, including stopping in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The tour later turned into a voter registration drive, using the document and celebrity advocates to get 18- to 29-year-olds excited about the political process and registered to vote. In 2004 and 2006, the campaign registered a 1.2 million people.
I wonder if under the fairness doctrine, Mr. Lear would be required to take it to Minneapolis too?
What the story leaves out is that Lear has some cutting edge technology worked into the Constitution road show. Whenever viewers of the document look directly at it, Archie Bunker’s catch-phrase sound effect of a toilet flushing is noticeable audible in the viewers ears.