Description:

Theodore Roosevelt
[New York, NY], May 9, 1911
Theodore Roosevelt Signed Check for Optometrist Whose Eyeglasses Case Saved Him From Assassin's Bullet the Next Year!
DS

A check boldly signed by former 26th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), then a private citizen, as "Theodore Roosevelt" on the signature line. May 9, 1911. [New York, New York.] The partly manuscript and partly printed check, number 26, directed cashiers from the Astor Trust Company to pay optometrist/optician E.B. Meyrowitz in the amount of $4. Bearing punch out cancellation marks at right. Endorsed by several hand-stamps verso. Expected wear including even toning and flattened folds, else near fine. 6.5" x 2.75."

About 19 months after issuing this check to E.B. Meyrowitz, Roosevelt was saved from certain death thanks in large part to a steel eyeglasses case from the same retailer. (See attached scan of the bullet-pierced case included just for reference.) Theodore Roosevelt, then running as the Progressive Party presidential candidate, was standing in an open car outside the Gilpatrick Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 14, 1912 when he was shot at pointblank range by John Schrank, a former saloon keeper. The assassin's bullet was slowed on its trajectory through Roosevelt's jacket pocket by the E.B. Meyrowitz eyeglasses case as well as the folded up sheath of pages from Roosevelt's "Progressive Cause Greater than Any Individual" speech. After Roosevelt's attacker was apprehended, the wounded ex-president calmly proceeded to deliver his speech, which took more than an hour, only after seeking medical attention. The bullet remained in Roosevelt's chest cavity for the rest of his life.

Eyeglasses were essential as Roosevelt had been near-sighted since childhood. Earlier during his presidency, Roosevelt sported pince-nez glasses before embracing framed glasses later during life. In fact, Roosevelt was so identified by his owl-round eyeglasses, both as a national celebrity and as a political figure, that no fewer than three opticians/optometrists in Texas, California, and Oregon offered to fit him for or make him eyeglasses between January and March 1911, in the months immediately preceding the issuance of this check, according to collections records at the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State College.

The optician/optometrist Emil Bruno Meyrowitz, a Prussian immigrant trained in Imperial Russia, established the firm of E.B. Meyrowitz in the United States in 1875; it eventually opened branches in New York, London, Paris, Connecticut, and Minnesota. E.B. Meyrowitz offered its well-heeled clients eyeglasses but also other optical devices. It later produced binoculars as well as early automobile and airplane goggles.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 6.5" x 2.75"
  • Medium: DS

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April 23, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
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