Wally Schirra Apollo Astronaut signed Turtle Card

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This is a mint condition membership card for the Turtle Club signed by Wally Schirra - I obtained a few of these (in person) several years ago at a book signing. An inexpensive way to obtain an authentic autographed item - this was a Real Space Cowboys promotional item. It is Approx  4" x 3".

Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles ia an honorable drinking fraternity composed of ladies and gentlemen of the highest morals and good character, who are never vulgar" and who have successfully answered four from a list of about twenty-five qualifying questions. Each question suggests a vulgar, lewd, or salacious answer, but the actual correct answer is rather innocuous. It is assumed that all prospective turtles own a diabetic donkey, or one of a sweet and kindly disposition, which is the reason for the password. Once inducted, a member must reply to the question, "Are you a turtle?" with the correct password. If the member is unable or unwilling (perhaps because of the restriction on vulgarity) to provide the correct answer, he or she owes to each other turtle present a drink of the recipient's choice.

During the  Mercury 8 mission astronaut Wally Schirra was asked by a ground controller whether he was a turtle. Not wanting to use vulgar language while his communications were being broadcast worldwide, he temporarily stopped transmitting while he gave the required response.

Deke Slayton, a mere 3 minutes into Sigma 7's flight, came on the radio, which was open for everyone to hear, and asked, "Hey, Wally, are you a turtle?". Shirra switched his mike from live to record and uttered the appropriate response. On the open line, he said, "Rog."  Later, onboard the recovery ship in front of Slayton, Walt Williams and the other astronauts, Walt Williams demanded to know how Schirra replied to Deke's question. Shirra played the recorder. "Hey, Wally, are you a turtle?" "You bet your sweet ass I am."