A “Rosebud” sled that looks like the one featured in the Citizen Kane (but isn’t) is expected to sell for somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 in a movie memorabilia auction hosted by Turner Classic Movies and Bonhams auction house in New York City today. The American Victorian wooden sled was built in the 1840s but had the iconic name ”Rosebud” painted onto it at a later date, probably around the time it was gifted to Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz at the wrap party for the 1941 classic.
The vintage keepsake has been passed down through the generations of the Mankiewicz family, first from the Kane scribe to his son Don Mankiewicz, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the 1958 film noir I Want To Live!. Don then passed it on to his son John Mankiewicz, co-executive producer of Netflix’s House Of Cards, who, we can assume, decided he wasn’t into caring for a “Rosebud” sled. To be clear, this incredibly valuable auction item is not one of the three balsa wood sleds made for director Orson Welles to burn in the closing moments of Citizen Kane; one of the two that survived the fire was bought by Steven Spielberg for $50,000 back in 1982.