Skylab 3
The Skylab 3 (also known as Skylab II as it was the second crewed Skylab flight) crew wore coveralls with beta cloth emblems on board the USS New Orleans after the flight. There is effectively no embroidered crew patch for the Skylab 3 mission, but there is a collectible patch related to the mission that was created for their wives.
The Skylab 3 Wives patch was an unoffical reworking of the Skylab 3 insignia with a female figure replacing the male of the original, and the names of the Skylab 3 astronauts' wives replacing those of the crew.
The artwork for the center of the patch was produced by artist Ardis Shanks, and journalist Jacques Tiziou put together the design and ordered a limited run of 320 patches from Cape Kennedy Medals.
The story of the production and distribution of the Skylab 3 Wives patch is covered in some detail on the SpacePatches website. Essentially, a number of patches were given to the wives themselves and the rest were bought by Shanks, Tiziou and some friends. Support crew members Bob Crippen and Hank Hartsfield snuck a number of patches onto the flight to the surprise of the crew, who were unaware of the whole scheme.
The Skylab 3 Wives patch
Skylab 3 Wives Patch
Buyers should check the details of any patch very carefully as a number of fakes exist.
Other Embroidered Mission Patches
A-B Emblem patch
The AB Emblem Skylab II patch does not have the hallmark of the Lion Brothers patch.
Lion Brothers patch
The Lion Brothers Skylab II patch has the first initials of crew's surnames "BGL" hidden in the red area above the "S" of Skylab as a hallmark.
Note that the Lion Brothers patch was used by NASA on the certificates of appreciation distributed to employees after the Skylab II mission.
Note that a rare plastic backed prototype version of this patch exists.
Cape Kennedy Medals patch
This patch is believed to have been manufactured by Cape Kennedy Medals. It can be identified by the square cornered black thread at the navel of the central figure.
Hilborn Hamburger patch
This patch from Hilborn Hamburger can be easily identified by the dark inner border enclosing the red and blue central area.
Skylab 3 Wives Randy Hunt replica patch
This replica (or fake) of the Skylab II Wives patch is easily distinguished from the real thing by the crude detailing. It was produced by Randy Hunt (4gator).
3" Embroidered Mission Patches
3" souvenir patch [SLIIUNK3i1]
This is one of several small souvenir versions (generally referred to as 3" versions) of the mission patch.
Footnotes
[1] Examples of Skylab 3 Wives patch sales:
eBay item no. 140396868435 sold Apr 11, 2010 at $392
eBay item no. 1230551857126 sold Nov 23, 2010 at $73.01
Heritage Auction lot no. 41220 sold Jun 3, 2011 at $310.70
eBay item no. 180824343759 sold Feb 22, 2012 at $349.99 [signed by artist]
eBay item no. 251210279543 sold Jan 13, 2013 at $381.51
Bonhams Space Auction lot 186 Apr 8, 2014 sold at $1,625 [with numbered decal]
eBay item no. 181610034517 Dec 15, 2014 sold at $249.99
Lunar Legacies auction lot no. 412 Mar 28, 2015 sold at $333.20
RRauction lot no. 531 Apr 15, 2015 sold at $269.50
eBay item no. 181868818289 Sep 14, 2015 sold at $202.50
RRAuction Lot 9486 Oct 23, 2015 sold at 584.33 [with decal]
eBay item no. 264516554261 Nov 6, 2019 sold at $400 [buy-it-now]
Heritage Auction lot no. 50817 sold Nov 21, 2020 at $600
Lunar Legacies auction lot no. 376 Jan 23, 2021 sold at $671
Lunar Legacies Space Auction Lot 666 Sep 24, 2023 sold at $457.50
[2] Examples of Skylab 3 Cape Kennedy Medals patch sales:
eBay item no. 330646600710 sold Nov 29, 2011 at $89
eBay item no. 330655315457 sold Dec 11, 2011 at $70
eBay item no. 330658888889 sold Dec 21, 2011 at $29.99
eBay item no. 330662664269 sold Jan 2, 2012 at $24.99
eBay item no. 330669902849 sold Jan 22, 2012 at $11.10
eBay item no. 140748966573 sold May 13, 2012 at $9.95
[3] Examples of Skylab 3 Hilborn Hamburger patch sales:
eBay item no. 140962937998 sold Apr 30, 2013 at $115.49 [with HH Skylab III patch, both in HH packaging]