Happy Presidents Day

If you have the day off I hope you are enjoying it. Here are a few presidential items I have in my collection.

😄

1900 William J Bryan campaign pin

Well, I guess there's nothing like killing off what little readership I have after over a week off than to post a presidential pin but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

This one comes from the 1900 campaign of Williams Jennings Bryan who ran as a Democrat-Populist against William McKinley. Pictured on this jugate with Bryan is his running-mate, Adlai Stevenson I. McKinley won in decisive fashion but was assassinated in 1901 and succeeded by his VP Teddy Roosevelt. It serves as a nice companion piece to my McKinley-Roosevelt pin from that same year.

The paper backing gives a manufacturing date of 1896 which is curious because Bryan was also the Democratic nominee that year against McKinley. But his running mate was Arthur Sewell. I suspect that the company (Whitehead and Hoag, Newark, NJ) reused the paper backs from the 1896 buttons on these Bryan/Stevenson buttons four years later.

The turn of the century was an amazing time in America and I can't read enough about it. There is also a lot of historical fiction set in that era and I read quite a bit of that, too.

Nelson Rockefeller Pinbacks

Lately I've been so caught up in chasing and posting the '63 Fleer set and the '61 Topps MVPs that I've pretty much shoved most of my other collecting off to the side. But not blogging about them doesn't mean I was not adding anything.

A few weeks back I won this small lot of Nelson Rockefeller campaign pins. Rocky was the governor of New York State back when I was growing up and was a favorite of my (then) liberal leaning parents. He tried for the Republican presidential nomination several times but never won it. He later served as Vice President under Gerald Ford when Ford ascended to the Presidency following the resignation of Richard Nixon. He chose to retire and didn't run on the ticket with Ford in 1976.

I've always found him a fascinating character, perhaps because his political and social beliefs so closely paralleled my own. His Wikipedia page is recommended as a primer on the now very forever dead liberal branch of  the Republican Party.

In the photo above the upper left button is obviously from 1964 and the larger 'For President' red and blue one comes from 1968. I'm not sure about the blue one or the large button below.

These are not my first Rocky pins but these are the first that I am certain are legit and not reprints. (Why anyone would reprint a Nelson Rockefeller pinback is another story altogether.) There was another pinback in the lot that came along for the ride. The seller didn't realize that it wasn't a Nelson Rockefeller pin. It's pictured below and it's a pin that actually refers to this musical Brit group. [warning...the music video plays automatically].

Honestly I can understand the seller's mistake. Bella Abzug was a feminist/political activist and New York State Representative in the 70s.  The button might have seemed to the seller to be a strange political mashup or something. Unlike the real Rocky buttons, this one already hit our recycling bin.

Dallas Doings

Well, the trip to Dallas to see the Rangers turned out well, despite the wrong team winning. My sons and I had a great time. The seats were in the fifth row, pretty much perfect and something every NHL fan should experience sometime. You really get a feel for the game when you are that close to the glass.

The arena up there is nice, nothing spectacular but it's well maintained and attractive. Nothing can match Madison Square Garden or the United Center in my hockey experiences but we enjoyed it. Sadly (or not, depending on your outlook) the game itself isn't enough anymore. There needs to be three(!) timeouts per period so that the 'Ice Girls' can skate around with shovels to pick up the ice shavings. Really? Three timeouts per period? And of course you need a mascot, contests and blaring music to set the mood. Oh well, times change.

One nice surprise was that when we entered the arena every fan was offered a Dallas Stars yearbook and a game program, free gratis-like. How cool is that? I saw that about half of those coming in passed them up but to a publications guy like me it was a very nice 'gift'.

There were plenty of Rangers fans on hand and we made our presence felt, especially in whatever bar that was we were in for the hour or so prior to the game. Too bad we couldn't push the right team to a win.

On Tuesday we visited the George W Bush Library and Museum on the SMU campus.

Putting politics aside it was a fun experience. They pack a lot of 'stuff' into each and every inch of the place. It's much more crowded than the LBJ Library in Austin or the Bush Senior one in College Station. As befits a newer presidential library there is an almost overwhelming multimedia and interactive aspect to the place. Lots of videos, several different small theaters, and a lot of  'touch' screens all over. As you would expect the 9-11 section was both the most crowded and most somber place in the library. It is very well done, respectful and informative.

The only disappointing aspect of the Bush Library is the lack of 'campaign' pins and memorabilia available in the store. They had a couple of exhibits of campaign gear in the hall and a very neat section devoted to the Bush-Gore 'battle of the hanging chads' election which gave me hope the store would be interesting. I'm used to finding new and different campaign stuff for sale at the LBJ Library on every visit but there was noting to be found yesterday. I did buy one item, a pin for my presidential seal display.

I'm an 'LBJ guy' and visit that library as often as possible but W's new place is worth a visit if you are in the area.

Alfred E. Smith 1928 campaign button

To a low level political pin collector like me a cheap and not-very-scarce pin like this one is a treasure. The real collectors deal in high level stuff while all I really want to do is pick up something from as many different presidential campaigns as possible. So something that still looks good 86 years after it was produced is pretty special.

Alfred E. "Al" Smith was the Democratic nominee in 1928. He was the four term New York governor and was known as a reformer and staunch opponent of Prohibition. As a Catholic (the first ever Catholic Presidential hopeful) he was able to gain support of the large contingent of Catholic women who had never held the right to vote previously. But this was counterbalanced by a large block of voters who distrusted him based on fears that the Pope would dictate U.S. policy if Smith was elected.

Running against Herbert Hoover in 1928, a time of national prosperity under Republican administrations, Smith was soundly defeated in the general election. Franklin Roosevelt succeeded Smith as New York governor and in 1932 as the Democratic nominee. Smith and Roosevelt, once friends and allies, fell out over Smith's criticism of Roosevelt's New Deal initiatives. Smith also resented his treatment by Roosevelt when FDR served as governor from 1929 to 1932.

Smith's opposition to FDR was so strong that he supported the Republican candidates in the presidential elections of 1936 and 1940. After he was defeated in '28 he became the president of Empire State, Inc., the corporation that built and operated the Empire State Building. He died in 1944.

Campaign Buttons, Losers and a Winner

Wendell Willkie was a lawyer with no previous political campaign experience when he ran against the two term incumbent, Franklin Roosevelt, in 1940. Willkie lost but became a Roosevelt confidant, adviser and a sort of unofficial 'ambassador at large'. After the loss to FDR in 1940 be wrote a successful book on his world affairs and travels and he was an outspoken civil rights activist.

I recently picked up the three buttons above. They are the first Willkies in my collection. He is a pretty fascinating character worth checking into.

Dwight David Eisenhower ran and won two presidential campaigns with Dick Nixon as his running-mate. 'Ike's' campaigns where run in 1952 (when I was born) and 1956 so everything I know of them is what I read.  Ike always appears so reserved and laid back. But according to a book released last year he was a pretty tough guy in his dealings with his second in command and the two were anything but close.

I have several Eisenhower buttons (and many Nixons) but this is new and it's easily my favorite. Love the Capitol dome motif.

Newest Presidential Pins

I'd been ignoring my presidential pin collection lately, probably because I'd been chasing the State/Territories Quarters set. I finally finished that one off so I picked up a couple of new pins.

The one at the top is of Averell Harriman, the quintessential career diplomat. I don't normally chase pins  of candidates who didn't get their parties' nomination except for a select few. I'd heard Harriman's name so much growing up that I bid on this one and won it cheap. As mentioned in his Wikipedia entry (sampled below) he was a two time Democratic hopeful in the 1950's. Pretty unremarkable pin overall.

Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891 – July 26, 1986) was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1952, and again in 1956 when he was endorsed by President Truman but lost to Adlai Stevenson both times. Harriman served President Franklin D. Roosevelt as special envoy to Europe and served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union and U.S. Ambassador to Britain. He served in numerous U.S. diplomatic assignments in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He was a core member of the group of foreign policy elders known as "The Wise Men".

And I can never turn down a Kennedy pin. Next to LBJ he takes up more pages in my binder than any other president.

Nicest pin ever? Or was I screwed?

Harry Truman ran shoestring presidential campaigns and as a result his pins are pretty scarce and can be costly. I've passed up quite a few on eBay and elsewhere because I thought the pin was too expensive or the dealer wasn't sharp enough to know if he actually had an original.

A week before Christmas I found one on eBay that looked pretty nice, was not too expensive (about $24 IIRC), claimed to be original and came from a dealer with near perfect feedback (lots of it).
The pin arrived the other day, I pulled it out and it looked like this:

The scan doesn't do it justice. It's shiny and just perfect. Flawless celluloid surface. I thought it was the nicest 40's era pin I'd ever owned. And then I turned it over. Again, flawless. And that's the problem.

I've been collecting these pins for a long time. I can't remember ever seeing a supposedly 60+ year old pin with a perfect back side and pin. Never. These babies were made with the cheapest possible alloy and they stain and tarnish over the years no matter now well they are kept.

So now I have a question in to the seller. He seems like a very nice guy, emailing me about sending the pin out after Christmas if it wasn't something I needed for a gift. And his feedback is almost perfect. I asked him if he was certain that the pin was an original and not a reproduction. And I was very polite about it. So I'll be interested in hearing what he has to say.

UPDATE:
I was contacted by the seller today (Monday) and he provided me with enough info and a backstory on his pins that I'm pretty sure the pin is original. Looks like I made a pretty good deal.

Dewey Defeats Truman

                                               

That's one of the most famous headlines of the 20th Century. In the 1948 Presidential election the Chicago Tribune prematurely published a special edition of their paper declaring Republican Thomas Dewey of New York the winner over Missouri Democrat Harry S Truman who had run as FDR's Veep and succeeded him after his death. Of course the Trib was wrong and Truman got a lot of mileage out of the picture of him holding the paper and smiling.

1948 marked Dewey's second run at the Presidency  He had fallen short in 1944 against Roosevelt although his 44% of the popular vote was higher than any other man to run against FDR. In 1948 he was the prohibitive favorite against a splintered Democratic Party but his timid, middle of the road campaign left him vulnerable to an upset and Truman won the election. 

                                        

Dewey was one of those interesting New York bred moderate Republicans of a breed that seemed to die out with Nelson Rockefeller. He served several terms as governor after making a name for himself as an anti-Mafia 'gangbuster' while serving as a federal prosecutor and Manhattan District Attorney. He became a multi-millionaire as a very successful lawyer. 

Late in life he became discouraged by the direction of his party and essentially left it when he refused to attend the coronation of Barry Goldwater as the GOP's 1964 candidate.

The pin at the top is from his 1948 campaign that he ran alongside his VP candidate Earl Warren then Governor of California. The one below comes from either that campaign or the previous one in 1944. The slogan "Clean House with Dewey" is likely a play on his reputation as a crime fighting prosecutor. 

The one up top and the one on with the flaws below are from my collection. It looks a lot rougher in my blown up scan than it does in person. I found a nicer example of that one on the web and posted it for clarity.

William Howard Taft Campaign(?) Pin

I picked this one up for $12 last month. It was just different enough to catch my eye and the price for a century old pin was right. The stain doesn't detract much from the unique gold eagle design. I've seen this pin elsewhere being described as being issued for the 1912 campaign but I have no way to be sure. It just might be an inauguration souvenir.

William Howard Taft was president from 1909 through 1913. He was trounced in his re-election bid. He received just 8 electoral votes in what was the worst defeat of a seated president in history. That 1912 election was contested by Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt (who Taft had served under a a cabinet member) and Taft. Wilson won with just 41% of the popular vote.

Taft was the first President to throw out the baseball season's traditional first pitch. He served a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after his days in the White House.

My latest (and oldest) pin

This is a Williams Jennings Bryan campaign pin from the 1896 race between Bryan and William McKinley. McKinley won the election and the two faced each other again in 1900. McKinley again came out on top. I posted a McKinley pin from that 1900 race a few week ago.

The front of the pin is in really good shape considering its age. the back shows the ravages of nearly 120 years of sitting in someone's drawer. It's impossible to read without a magnifying glass but the back shows the pin was manufactured by The Whitehead & Hoag Co. of Newark N.J. Patented and it lists three dates, July 17, 1894, April 14, 1896 and July 21, 1896. Don't know what the dates signify. The July '86 date shows up in a Wikipedia entry as a date that a patent was awarded to the firm of pinback buttons:

Benjamin S. Whitehead patented the first innovation to the design in 1893 by inserting a sheet of transparent film made of celluloid over a photograph mounted on a badge to protect the image from scratches and abrasion.^[3] Whitehead had patents for various designs of ornamental badges and medallions previously, patented as early as 1892.^[4] Another patent was issued to Whitehead & Hoag on 21 July 1896 for a "Badge Pin or Button" which used a metal pin anchored to the back of the button to fasten the badge.

Apparently Whitehead and Hoag was a well known firm back in the day.

I'm excited to add this one to my collection.

We'll get back to sports stuff with the next post.

Prosperity At Home, Prestige Abroad

This is my latest, oldest and definitely coolest Presidential campaign button. It's from 1900 and features Republican candidates William McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt. They defeated the Democratic ticket headed by Williams Jennings Bryan. I've seen it for sale for upwards of $75 but I got this one for $30 shipped. It looks better in person than it does in my scan.

McKinley defeated Bryan in 1896 and the two met again in 1900. McKinley and Roosevelt won that election but in September of 1901 McKinley was assassinated and Teddy took the Presidency. I don't really know a whole lot about McKinley but Teddy Roosevelt was one bad ass dude. Lots has been written about him but I can recommend two books that I've read: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris and River of Doubt by Candice Miller. That one is especially good. It's the story of Roosevelt's exploration of the Amazon. You can get them both dirt cheap on Amazon.

There is a famous campaign poster from McKinley's 1900 campaign that features the same slogan as the button.

I've picked up lots of campaign buttons in the last few months. It has sure cut into my card budget!

Reading is Fundamental

A little while back I bought what I thought was a pair of mini Obak cards off eBay. They were some sort of promo cards from the Obak booth at the 2011 National. 'They' were cheap and featured U.S. Presidents playing college sports so I figured 'What the heck? Why Not?'

Turns out the 'two' cards were just one two-sided card. LOL @ me. That'll teach me to shop late at night and not read the whole description. 

No big deal because I still can show off a couple of my presidential campaign buttons. First a slightly scarred and 1960 Kennedy/Johnson with a rusty back.

And a plain jane President Gerald Ford from 1976. Did you know that President Ford is the only man to serve as president without being elected either president or vice president? 

Gerald Ford replaced Spiro Agnew as VP when Agnew resigned in 1973 and became President when Richard Nixon resigned in 1974. He lost his re-election bid to Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Bill Bradley pin and cards

I don't like the nastiness of politics but I am fascinated by politicians, particularly those that run for President. That's what's behind my collection of campaign pins and Presidential biographies. The Bill Bradley pin is part of a big haul I pulled in recently. 

Bradley ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 2000. He served as U.S. Senator from New Jersey for three terms. He's an author, Air Force Reserve veteran, Rhodes scholar, radio host, Starbucks board member and investment bank partner. Busy guy. 

But this post ties into sports directly because Bill Bradley is also a former Princeton hoops star, NBA player with the NY Knicks, Basketball Hall of Famer, and timely because he was an Olympic basketball Gold Medal winner at the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo.

I have maybe a dozen Bradley basketball cards total. Here are two. The first one is a 1973 Topps. 

This one is from the 1983 Greatest Olympians set. Bradley looks very much like a young Johnny Carson in this one. 

Non-Sports Collection

Fuji laid down another contest challenge (I have no chance in the contest but the effort is fun). He asked us to "Show and/or Tell" anything we collect that is not related to sports. I spun around in my chair to look at my shelves.

As I posted over there in the comments I have a couple of things I'm interested in that fall outside the realm of sports. I have a nice group of vinyl albums. They are mostly early Beatles albums and others from that generation of music. At one time I had a couple of bookcases filled with vinyl but I sold off or donated about 90% of them. As my family grew space became limited and something had to go.

I also had one wall of the family room lined with shelves of books, many of which were U. S. Presidential bios. I probably had every book on Lincoln and LBJ ever printed. I kept most of those but, like the albums, had to sacrifice many of the others. My book collection now consists mostly of those Lincoln and LBJ books, any book I can find on the Orioles or BALTIMORE Colts, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series and some reference books.

The one active non-sports collection I have is Presidential campaign buttons and pins. My collection is dwarfed by some of the ones I've seen. The LBJ Library in Austin was a great many. I have 60, maybe 70 with the oldest being an FDR button whose date I haven't been able to determine exactly.

I have some of my best ones mounted in display cases but most are loose and I was able to scan a few. My favorites are the over-sized LBJ buttons I posted here, my two JFK/Johnson buttons (not scanned) and the 'Sagitarius For Jackson'. That one's a hoot.