The Death of a President: The Nation Mourns

                            Lincoln's Funeral Train


       One of the saddest moments in history is when the President of the United States dies unexpectedly in office. For the first 50 years of the presidency, death of a chief executive was something the country had not dealt with. In 1841, William Henry Harrison caught pneumonia while giving his inaugural address, and died on April 4, 1841, one month after taking office. The country was in shock and went into a state of mourning, as Harrison had been a war hero and greatly loved by the people. Many memorial ribbons were created honoring the late Harrison. A huge memorial was eventually erected in North Bend, OH where he presently rests, a theme that would become common for presidents who died in office. Just nine years later, another Whig, Zachary Taylor, fell ill at a July 4th celebration in Washington, and died a few days later. Once again, this sudden passing of a president sent the nation into a time of mourning. One of the biggest and most important losses of a president came in 1865, when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, the first in American history. The country had just wrapped up most of the Civil War, and victory celebrations were going on in a lot of places in the North. Lincoln's death also caused an uproar and demand for justice, which came a little later with the hanging of John Wilkes Booth's companions. The Lincoln funeral train was very long, hitting major cities in the East and Midwest, before reaching Springfield, Illinois. The second presidential assassination came in 1881, when James Garfield was gunned down at a railroad station near Washington. This death was treated much like Lincoln's, with many black ribbons and items made to honor Garfield. The White House was also draped in black cloth. Twenty years later, another president would fall to the assassin's bullet, this time William McKinley, while in Buffalo, NY. There was tremendous mourning for McKinley, and many buttons, ribbons, and memorials were made in his honor, topped off by an impressive grave site in Canton, Ohio. The next president to die in office was Warren Harding, in 1923, due to illness or heart issues. This was once again a shock to the nation, as the scandals that plagued Harding's reputation were not yet fully known. The Harding Memorial Commission was formed and headed by Calvin Coolidge, raising thousands of dollars for a memorial. Franklin D. Roosevelt was leading the country towards the end of World War II when he suddenly died while visiting Warm Springs, GA in April of 1945. Roosevelt's death was mourned not just in America, but in much of Europe. One of the most tragic presidential deaths was that of John F. Kennedy, especially at such a young age. With the age of television, Kennedy's funeral was televised, bringing millions of people into the mourning and funeral procession. Every time a president passes away, it is big news, whether they had been out of office three months or thirty years. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson shared the fate of dying on the same day, July 4, 1826, causing a rare moment in history in which two great figures die on the same day. James Monroe trailed behind Jefferson and Adams by five years, dying on July 4, 1831. John Quincy Adams was the first president to die in Washington, D.C., dying in the U.S. Capitol building. John Tyler's death was not recognized officially by the United States, as Tyler had been elected to the Confederate Congress, dying shortly after that. James K. Polk only lived three months after leaving the White House, the shortest time of any presidential retirement. Herbert Hoover lived the longest amount of time after leaving Washington, although Jimmy Carter can pass that mark in the next few months. Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan both lived to be over 90 years old. Since Richard Nixon's death, all funerals for presidents have become nationwide events and often held at Washington's National Cathedral, and all former living presidents attend. Below, I have pictured some items made for memorials or in honor of presidents. A few of these I own, and a few of them I borrowed from past auctions to show a wider variety.

                               Garfield Memorial ribbon, 1881

                                  Grant ribbon, 1885

       Warren G. Harding memorial button and ribbon

                    William McKinley memorial button

                             William H. Harrison ribbon, 1841

                               John F. Kennedy memorial button

                            Warren Harding's funeral in Marion, OH

         Dwight D. Eisenhower's funeral, National Cathedral

                                  Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral

 

John F. Kennedy's funeral

 William McKinley's funeral

The living presidents at Ronald Reagan's funeral, 2004

The Joys of Attending an APIC Show

One of the greatest thrills of attending an American Political Items Collectors/Conservators (APIC) show is the chance to get to know fellow collectors better and to spend quality time with people who share the same passions of collecting political memorabilia. This weekend, it was Greensboro, NC that witnessed a large group of collectors from around the country come into to town to trade, sell, and buy political items. It was an honor to have our current APIC president, Chris Hearn, attend, along with all the other APIC members who made this show an enjoyable experience. One of the highlights of the weekend was having some of Chris Olmstead's items on display, some of the rarest buttons in the hobby. There was an entire frame of Charles E. Hughes items that he displayed as well as a case with some rare Teddy Roosevelt, John Davis, James Cox, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and William H. Taft buttons. I have included pictures of a lot of these rare items. The weekend started off with the traditional hospitality room, in which show coordinator and Region 7 VP Charlie Hertlein offers up his wife's famous meatballs, along with other delicacies. After everyone had their fill of food and talking with other collectors, it was time to room hop. Several dealers open up their rooms and give a preview of things to come, and this is a good time to buy a few buttons before the general public sees them on Saturday. One nice thing about most sellers is that they don't have prices on their items, so they may be flexible on the asking price, or give you a discount if you buy several items from the same seller. When it finally came time for the main event on Saturday, I was more than looking forward to the bourse. I could tell it would be a great show when I walked in to the ball room and saw wall to wall of riker mounts and cases of buttons, posters, ribbons, tabs, plates, sheet music, and 3-D items. It was a nice site to see all the collectors enjoying themselves by mingling with fellow collectors and seeing what deals they could find and add to their collections. Another treat was having former Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode attend the show, and he is also running for President for the Constitution Party. I believe this was one of the better shows that have been held in Greensboro, and I want to thank Charlie Hertlein and the others who planned the show and made it a success. This show is one of the highlights of my year and I am already counting down to next years show: 364 days away!

"Where do you get all your Campaign Items?"

One of the most asked questions I receive when people find out about my hobby is, "Where did you get that" or "How did you find out that the button was for sale" and "Is that expensive." I will admit, as a newcomer to the hobby, roughly 85% of my items have been bought on eBay. eBay is an amazing resource for campaign items of all types, ranging from $1 to $15,000 for some rare items. You can easily search for items on ebay and there are constantly thousands of campaign items on the site. One does have to be careful though, because many fake items end up for sale on ebay. The remaining 15% of my items have come through a combination of ways: internet auction sites, other collectors, and shows. Attending an American Political Items Collectors show can be a great experience, and you get to mingle with others who share the passion of collecting items. Prices at shows can sometimes run a tad high, but the upside is that dealers at shows often have lots of items that would rarely show up on ebay, so you may pay a little more but for items tougher to find. Auction sites are a great place to buy items as well, especially because the items are guaranteed to be authentic, so that relieves some of the problems of ordering stuff on eBay. Some great auction sites are Old Politicals, Anderson American, and Historicana Auctions. Hake's also does an auction, and so does Heritage, but they can run at the high end of the hobby and normally only deal in rare items. Buying or trading with fellow collectors is also a good way to get new items, and like the auction sites, more often then not the items will be 100% real and authentic. Sites such as Political Parade, Amres, The Political Banner, and others are great places to go to. Some dealers have their own websites, such as Lori Ferber, Legacy Americana, and affordablepoliticalitems.com. I can say I have ordered at least one item from all of these sellers and they are all very committed to the hobby and quickly fill orders. For 2012 campaign items, it is getting tough to find buttons, but sites like Zazzle and Cafe Press make them, although some in the hobby consider these vendor buttons and not really campaign buttons. Overall, ebay is the best place for someone starting out to buy campaign items, but it might take a while to get the hang of it. There has been a few times where I got into a bidding war with someone else who really wanted the item and I ended up paying more than I should, and a lot of times the item will show up later again on eBay. Below, I have pictured some of my best eBay finds and the best items I have bought on eBay.

Sending the Candidates through the Mail: Postcards

With the invention of the United States Postal Service and stamps and postcards, it was made possible to mail someone a card showing a presidential candidate. Most of these appear after 1900, ranging from William Jennings Bryan through the present, although there are a few examples from candidates before 1900. Before the age of computers and telephones, the most effective way for the general public to talk to each other was through the mail, and come election season, you might find a postcard with the likes of William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, or Warren Harding in your mailbox. A few postcards that I have that are used are generally just a brief paragraph discussing something going on in the person's life, while no mention is made of trying to influence the receiver in voting for the candidate shown on the postcard. However, what better way to show who you support than by mailing someone a postcard that has the candidate pictured on it. Postcards are often neatly designed and very colorful, sometimes showing the presidential and vice presidential candidate or a catchy phrase or slogan. Some of the classics are "We Will Win With Woodrow Wilson" or "Keep Cool and Keep Coolidge" just to name a few. Postcards in the hobby are highly collectible, and some of the rarer ones are quite costly. The one setback for postcards can be the condition issue, since paper does not hold up well over one hundred years, often exposed to moisture or water. Finding one in clean and crisp form from the early 1900's is tough, but minor wear does not greatly effect the value. As for stamps, there are few of them that were actually used during the campaign. Most are commemorative and came out after a president died. There are some "seals" that could be used to put on the envelope you were mailing, but were not actual postage. I have pictured a few of the older postcards I have, and notice the designs and message behind them. Most do not just show the candidates, but try to perhaps sway a voter's mind.

The 19th Century version of Campaign Buttons: Medals and Tokens

It is hard to imagine a time in which campaign buttons as we know them today did not exist, but before the 1896 election, that's exactly how it was. In the mid 1890's, the process of putting celluloid over buttons was perfected, and it changed the way political items were made. Many of the old tokens and medals portraying candidates were abandoned for the button, which could be made colorful and with many different and catchy slogans, and in many different sizes. Some of the most collectible and sought after buttons are from this era, often referred to as the "golden age" of campaign buttons, 1896-1916. Candidates such as William Jennings Bryan, William McKinley, Alton Parker, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson have produced some of the best campaign buttons in the hobby. But before this invention, candidates had to rely on tokens and medals to get the word out, used since the beginning. With George Washington, clothing buttons were made for his first inaugural, and most candidates had tokens made throughout the 19th century. The first campaign to rely heavily on items and handouts to promote a candidate was William H. Harrison's 1840 run for the presidency. Many tokens were produced for this election, and for the age, are relatively cheap, often found for less than $50 for the more common designs. Around the time of the Civil War, tokens took a back seat to ferrotypes and stickpins with the candidates actual photo on them, an invention made possible by the camera. However, tokens and medals were still produced, but faded out around 1900 due to the button invention. Tokens and medals are often dull looking and just give the name and sometimes year of the candidate and their run for the White House. Every once in a while, an interesting design will show up on the back of a token, but a lot of times these items are only collectible for their rarity and the fact that this is the only reasonably priced items from many pre-1900 candidates. I have pictured some of the tokens I own, including William H. Harrison, John C. Fremont, Grover Cleveland, James Blaine, Winfield S. Hancock, and Benjamin Harrison. You may notice tiny holes in the top of these medals, those were made so these items could be worn around a chain or ribbon.