13198b. (lot photos, clippings) Launching U.S. Lighthouse Service Tender Lilac, Miss. Kristi Aresvik Putnam, George Putnam, Commissioner of Lighthouses. May 26, 1933. Lot includes 5 large, close professional 7” x 11” b/w photos of the christening and launching of the Lighthouse Service Tender Lilac, and two newspaper clippings covering the event. Included in the photos are Commissioner Putnam with wife, daughters Kristi and Elizabeth, Asst. Secretary of Commerce and more. Great detail of the vessel, launching and more. Also included are two newspaper accounts of the launching. The Lilac was built as a replacement for the USLHT Iris and was assigned to the Fourth Lighthouse District, working the Delaware River and Bay from Trenton, New Jersey south to the mouth of Delaware Bay. Two of the Putnams’ children were daughters Kristi Aresvik (born in 1918) and Elizabeth Duncan. Elizabeth had been chosen to do the perform the christening on March 25, 1933 when the LHT Arbutus was launched at the same shipyard and it was Kristi who was selected to christen the Lilac on this auspicious occasion. The event was described in numerous newspapers of the time as “…all that could be desired, and it was really surprising that so large a number attended.” Besides Commissioner Putnam, his wife and daughter, others in attendance included Assistant Secretary of Commerce Dr. John Dickinson; H.D. King, Acting Commissioner, Department of Commerce, Bureau of Lighthouses; E.C. Gillette, Superintendent of Naval Construction, and many others. Also present were a number of Kristi’s friends from Bryn Mawr College. Before the launching, Kristi Putnam was presented with a lovely bouquet of iris and roses at a fine luncheon at the Hotel DuPont. Following the luncheon, all of the party went by automobile to the shipyard. “ As the time of the launching approached, whistles of the Pusey & Jones shipyard and other factories sent up their chorus. The Lilac was cleaned and polished, and gaily decorated with numerous flags and pennants. In deference to Prohibition, in effect at the time, Miss. Putnam smashed a bottle of tri-colored Brandywine water on her bow rather than the traditional champagne. Workmen with sledge hammers swung on the blocks, and at 2:33 pm, the Lilac glided down the greased ways, out of the lofty construction shed, and into the Christiana River. When she backed with a splash into the muddy water, long chains tightened to keep her from bumping the opposite river bank. Kristi Aresvik Putnam went on to graduate from Bryn Mawr College and in September 1941, she announced her engagement to Mr. John Hay, grandson of the late Secretary of State John Hay. Important lighthouse tender and Commissioner Putnam lot, wonderful views and important information. (VG+). $295.