Not all campaign items consist of buttons, posters, or brochures promoting the candidate. One popular way to show support for a candidate is by putting their images on dining items, such as plates, cups, and place mats. Presidential china has been around since the beginning, and almost every candidate has had their image placed on something that a person could use to eat or drink out of. Bowls, pitchers, cups, glasses, plates, and even silverware have at one point in history shown an image of one of our presidents. Most of the time, these items were meant for display and not to actually eat on or drink out of, but could certainly be used for that if the occasion presented itself. Some items that fit in this category were made for a specific fundraiser or produced in limited quantity as a gift. I have included almost every item here that I own in this category. I have a Reagan/Bush limited edition plate from the 1981 Inauguration. Also pictured is a plate from the 1950's showing Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife Mamie, a plate from the early 1970's showing Richard M. Nixon and his wife Pat, and the oldest plate I own, one showing James Garfield, made in either 1880 or 1881. Plates like this are still fairly common to run across and are mostly worth less than $40, although older items like the Garfield plate can require more than $60 to purchase. I have also included a few Reagan items I am proud of. One is a plastic cup from one of his Governor's races while he was in California. Another items is a place mat used for a BBQ fundraiser for his first campaign for Governor in 1966. This item is really neat to me and probably hard to find many in good condition like this one. The last item I have pictured is a napkin from the Eisenhower era, jokingly referred to as a crying towel. For time and space sake I have not included two more plates I own. One of George McGovern, and another from Eisenhower's term, showing all the presidents through Eisenhower. Items like China and other food ware can be fun to collect and helps diversify a collection.
very odd things sometimes pop up, like I have JFK salt and pepper shakers, a Nixon plate. I usually try and differentiate between campaignware and stuff that some company mass produced, like the Nixon plate I own. It has all the other presidents around it.
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