When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
RARE ANTIQUE TOPEKA KAN TOPEKA WILL BEAT WICHITA AERO CLUB PIN
We have not been able to find any information about the Topeka Aero Club, but we have determined that button is most likely from a 1915 balloon race due to the fact that the WichitaAero Club was only in existence for one year and it was formed for a single balloon race.
Please see photos for color, size, and condition details. Note lighting variations may alter colors in photos.
From the Wichita Aero Club website:
In 1915, when Wichita was still identified more with the Great Plains than great planes, the Wichita Aero Club was founded. The appropriate paperwork was filed in the state capital of Topeka, and the new group took the initiative to sponsor a balloon race in the fall of that year. It then promptly disappeared. No evidence of its continued operation could be found. No members were identified. No financial statements were filed. The original Wichita Aero Club apparently made one takeoff, one landing and never flew again. In 2008, however, a new Wichita Aero Club took off. After nearly a century of history that has included the manufacture of more airplanes in Wichita than in any other city on Earth, Wichita’s aviation community has come together to revive the Wichita Aero Club in “The Air Capital of the World.”
