The Spirit of New Brunswick
Since August is vacation time, this post was inspired by a Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies employee who sent me these photos from her vacation:
Look What’s In the Smithsonian!
The photos are from her trip to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, which houses, among other things, The Spirit of St. Louis, the famous airplane that aviator Charles Lindbergh used to make the first successful nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. The flight was a big deal, because though a number of very experienced pilots had tried it, until Lindbergh (who was a talented aviator but had less experience than some of those who had failed) no one had been successful. The Spirit of St. Louis was a small lightweight single seat monoplane, so it didn’t have much room for a lot of extras on it – just food, water and absolutely essential supplies. According to this site, in order to minimize the plane’s weight and increase fuel efficiency so that it would make it from New York to Paris, these are some of the surprising items that Lindbergh had to eliminate: the radio, parachute, gas gauges, navigation lights and all unnecessary maps (who knew that maps could be heavy?). But he took a lightweight Johnson & Johnson First Aid Kit and first aid products with him on his Goodwill Tour following his historic flight. After Lindbergh's 1927-1928 Goodwill Tour of Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean on The Spirit of St. Louis, he donated the airplane and its contents to the Smithsonian, -- including the Johnson & Johnson First Aid products that were onboard.
Alert blog readers will notice from the photo above that Lindbergh’s Johnson & Johnson First Aid Kit is prominently displayed as part of the exhibit. I understand that The Spirit of St. Louis display is one of the most popular in the museum. So if anyone is headed to the National Air and Space Museum, be sure to look for the Company’s First Aid Kit that made that historic flight! (And by the way, look at the flying gloves...they look like three-fingered mittens.)
Thanks to S. G. for the photos!