Political Ephemera

DURING U.S. PRESIDENTIAL election campaigns, as with other election campaigns, vast amounts of ephemera are generated, with many people keen to complete collections either relating to one specific election, one particular person or party, or a range of material covering a number of elections. Generally, material is divided into paper ephemera, such as leaflets and posters; buttons and badges; and “political cloth,” which includes flags and banners. Before the advent of large-scale television advertising, and prior to the introduction of the Federal Campaign Act of 1971, political ephemera was much more common than it is today. One of the major problems that has arisen in connection with political ephemera is that much of it is produced relatively cheaply, making copying easy. For this reason, the U.S. Hobby Protection Act of 1973 requires than any imitation “political items” have to be marked permanently with the date of manufacture, and that any imitation “coins and other numismatic items” are to be marked clearly with the word “copy.”

Traditionally, the most common form of election ephemera were leaflets that were given out during election campaigns. Some for the 1840 presidential election, showing William Harrison's log cabin, survive, as do many from the famous 1860 election campaign. Although these leaflets were printed in large numbers, sometimes with hundreds of thousands of copies, and were freely distributed, most were thrown away, making them rare and therefore collectable. With the introduction of the secret ballot after 1888, some people collected ballot papers, although this is illegal in some jurisdictions.

It was not long before buttons became popular in elections, and this later gave way to badges. These were round, and initially were made with a brass base, the remainder being enameled, with a clip attached. These were later replaced by a printed design on a tin badge. It would either have a picture, or caricature of the candidate, and/or a short slogan, such as “I Like Ike,” referring to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Delegates to party conventions or party primaries, members of the political party, or campaign canvassers would wear these to show their allegiance to individual candidates. At the primaries and conventions, many people traditionally wore hats or boaters, again demonstrating allegiance to particular candidates, but more commonly also showing support for “tickets,” indicating their support for one person for the presidential nomination, and another for the vice presidential nomination. There were also election posters, some for public billboards, and smaller ones for shop windows, front gardens of homes, and for cars, buses, or the sides of vans.

A metal token, likely from Abraham Lincoln's 1864 re-election campaign; it may have hung from a ribbon.

With the increasing use of the automobile beginning in the middle of the 20th century, bumper stickers became common—their first use recorded in 1945 when some were made by Gill Studios, Kansas. These were self-adhesive stickers affixed to the back, and sometimes the front, or side, of a car. Many of these carried the same message as the badges, but more often contained a phrase that might be support for a candidate, or opposition to another candidate. There would often be an attempt at wit in these bumper stickers. Novelist Jeffrey Archer, in his fictional book The Prodigal Daughter (1982), has two characters arguing over a bumper sticker “Au + H20 = 1964” showing support for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 U.S. presidential election. The University of Texas Library maintains a large collection of these bumper stickers.

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