Political Novelties

A series of pull cards, soap sculptures, nutcrackers, signs, belt buckles, and other objects created to promote or oppose various U.S. presidential candidates

The Constitution made the presidency and the positions of senator and representative elective offices. By the early 19th century, rivalries among political factions in the new government led to the creation of a competitive party system. The promotion of candidates among an expanding electorate placed increasing importance on the success of popular political campaigns.

The earliest objects in this group commemorate George Washington’s inauguration as the first president in 1789. Washington was the nation’s overwhelming choice, and the popular artifacts associated with his presidency generally celebrated the man and the office. With the realization of an in-and-out party system in the era of Andrew Jackson, advocacy replaced commemoration. Commemorative clothing buttons, sewing boxes, and crockery gave way to expendable campaign advertising novelties such as badges, buttons, and ribbons. These objects are the products of an economy of popular promotion that sought to instill a high level of activism and engagement. By the mid-20th century badges, buttons, and ribbons began to be displaced by investments in radio and television advertising and opinion polling.

Lincoln and Hamlin Campaign Ribbon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1860
associated person
Lincoln, Abraham
Hamlin, Hannibal
ID Number
1978.0590.092
accession number
1978.0590
catalog number
1978.0590.092

Coaster, John F. Kennedy, 1960

The Lagonda Printing Company of Springfield, Ohio printed a variety of paper placemats and coasters encouraging participation in the 1960 election. John F. Kennedy, caricaturized on this coaster, won the Democratic nomination that year.
Description
The Lagonda Printing Company of Springfield, Ohio printed a variety of paper placemats and coasters encouraging participation in the 1960 election. John F. Kennedy, caricaturized on this coaster, won the Democratic nomination that year. He defeated his Republican opponent Richard Nixon in one of the closest elections in American history winning by less than two tenths of one percentage point.
date made
1960
associated person
Kennedy, John F.
ID Number
1978.2196.01
accession number
1978.2196
catalog number
1978.2196.01

Bank, Barry Goldwater, 1964

This plastic bank is just one of the many 1964 presidential campaign novelties that were produced in pairs, one for Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee, and one for President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic candidate.
Description
This plastic bank is just one of the many 1964 presidential campaign novelties that were produced in pairs, one for Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee, and one for President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic candidate. Johnson, who ascended to the presidency after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, easily defeated Goldwater, a senator from Arizona.
associated person
Goldwater, Barry
ID Number
PL.227739.1964.X08
catalog number
227739.1964.X08
accession number
227739

License plate, Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964

Lyndon B. Johnson represented Texas in the House of Representatives and the Senate for 24 years before serving as vice president under President John F. Kennedy. Johnson ascended to the presidency following Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.
Description
Lyndon B. Johnson represented Texas in the House of Representatives and the Senate for 24 years before serving as vice president under President John F. Kennedy. Johnson ascended to the presidency following Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. This miniature license plate was produced for Johnson’s 1964 campaign to retain the office. He won a landslide victory against Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, his Republican challenger.
associated date
1964
associated person
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines)
associated institution
Democratic National Party
ID Number
PL.227739.1964.X69
catalog number
227739.1964.X69
accession number
227739

Gum, Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater, 1964

“Swell” bubblegum cigars manufactured by the Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corporation promoted almost all major presidential candidates from 1964 to 2000.
Description
“Swell” bubblegum cigars manufactured by the Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corporation promoted almost all major presidential candidates from 1964 to 2000. Usually priced at just a nickel, the cigars were offered individually, in 6-packs, and in bi-partisan boxes like this for “presidential favorites” Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater. In 1964, President Johnson, the incumbent Democrat, defeated Goldwater, a Republican senator from Arizona.
date made
1964
1964
associated person
Goldwater, Barry
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines)
ID Number
PL.257186.01
catalog number
257186.01
accession number
257186

Doll, Barry Goldwater, 1964

This dashboard doll was sold during the 1964 presidential campaign of Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee. It came in a box that read: “Another true-to-life Remco replica of outstanding personalities in the headlines!
Description
This dashboard doll was sold during the 1964 presidential campaign of Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee. It came in a box that read: “Another true-to-life Remco replica of outstanding personalities in the headlines! Inspired gift for ardent Republicans—gag-gift for ‘dyed-in-the-wool’ Democrats. Specially made to attach to cars. GOP’s MAN of the hour.” Remco produced a similar doll designed to look like President Lyndon B. Johnson, Goldwater’s Democratic opponent and victor in the election.
date made
1964
associated person
Goldwater, Barry
ID Number
1977.0979.13
accession number
1977.0979
catalog number
1977.0979.13

Soda can, Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964

Lyndon B. Johnson became president in 1963 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He successfully ran for election to his own full term the following year.
Description
Lyndon B. Johnson became president in 1963 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He successfully ran for election to his own full term the following year. “Johnson Juice” was created to counter sales of a similar soda by Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee.
date made
1964
associated person
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines)
associated institution
Democratic National Party
ID Number
PL.284908.01
catalog number
284908.01
accession number
284908

Gold Water

associated person
Goldwater, Barry
ID Number
PL.284908.02
catalog number
284908.02
accession number
284908

Clicker, Richard Nixon, 1968

This metal clicker from Richard Nixon’s 1968 campaign for president was a return to a campaign novelty he had used in his first attempt to win the White House in 1960.
Description
This metal clicker from Richard Nixon’s 1968 campaign for president was a return to a campaign novelty he had used in his first attempt to win the White House in 1960. The message on the newer version was a straightforward statement of veteran support for the Republican candidate while the earlier clickers typically opted for the more playful “Click with Dick.” Nixon was the incumbent vice president when he lost his first race to his Democratic opponent John F. Kennedy. In 1968, he turned the tables by defeating the sitting vice president Hubert H. Humphrey.
associated person
Nixon, Richard M.
ID Number
PL.227739.1968.X05
catalog number
227739.1968.X05
accession number
227739

Ribbon, Hubert H. Humphrey, 1968

Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Edmund Muskie, senator from Maine, were the 1968 Democratic candidates for president and vice president.
Description
Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Edmund Muskie, senator from Maine, were the 1968 Democratic candidates for president and vice president. They lost by less than one percent of the vote to the Republican ticket of Richard Nixon, former vice president, and Spiro Agnew, governor of Maryland.
date made
1968
associated date
1968
associated person
Humphrey, Hubert H.
Muskie, Edmund S.
associated institution
Democratic National Party
ID Number
PL.315264.2801
catalog number
315264.2801
accession number
315264

Ribbon, Richard Nixon, 1968

Former vice president Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, governor of Maryland, were the 1968 Republican candidates for president and vice president. Because they were running against Hubert H. Humphrey, the incumbent vice president, many of their campaign slogans called for change.
Description
Former vice president Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, governor of Maryland, were the 1968 Republican candidates for president and vice president. Because they were running against Hubert H. Humphrey, the incumbent vice president, many of their campaign slogans called for change. Nixon and Agnew defeated Humphrey and his running mate Edmund Muskie, senator from Maine.
date made
1968
associated date
1968
associated person
Nixon, Richard M.
Agnew, Spiro
associated institution
Republican National Party
ID Number
PL.315264.2802
catalog number
315264.2802
accession number
315264

Button, George Wallace, 1968

George Wallace used the slogan “Stand up for Alabama” in his successful campaign for governor of Alabama in 1963. During his term, he made a short, unsuccessful presidential run in the 1964 Democratic primaries.
Description
George Wallace used the slogan “Stand up for Alabama” in his successful campaign for governor of Alabama in 1963. During his term, he made a short, unsuccessful presidential run in the 1964 Democratic primaries. Having failed in his efforts to amend the Alabama constitution so he could succeed himself in the next election, Wallace supported the 1966 gubernatorial candidacy of his wife Lurleen who campaigned as a Democrat with her husband’s slogan pledging that he would continue to make the policy decisions in her administration. Lurleen’s victory meant that George Wallace was serving as “first gentleman” of his home state when he announced his intention to run for president as an independent in the 1968 election.
His state-specific slogan was easily adapted for a national audience. Even before Wallace confirmed his intention to run for president in 1968, his supporters had prepared a pamphlet entitled “Stand Up for America.” Wallace used the slogan for his candidacy as the nominee of the American Independent Party, an anti-civil rights, pro-states’ rights party. However, in keeping with his independent tone, Wallace did not name a running mate until he was required to do so in order to appear on some states’ ballots. Just a month before the election, Wallace chose retired Air Force Chief of Staff, General Curtis LeMay. A staunch conservative, LeMay was not interested in endorsing Wallace’s segregationist platform but agreed to run with him to help promote his own views on military policy including advocating the use of nuclear weapons to end conflicts such as the war in Vietnam.
The independents ran one of the more successful third-party campaigns in American history. Finishing behind the winning Republican ticket of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew and the Democrats Hubert H. Humphrey and Edmund Muskie, Wallace and LeMay received 13.5% of the popular vote and won five states in the Electoral College with 46 electoral votes, the last third party to win any electoral votes.
Wallace returned to the Democratic Party following his 1968 defeat. Paralyzed from the waist down by an assassination attempt in 1972 while seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, he served three more terms as governor of Alabama and entered the Democratic race a fourth time in 1976 winning three primaries before withdrawing.
date made
1968
ID Number
1986.1040.448
catalog number
1986.1040.448
accession number
1986.1040

Tie clip, Richard Nixon, 1960

This tie clip supports a lenticular image that alternates between two designs when shifted. One image is the slogan “I’m For Nixon” and the other is a picture of Richard Nixon, the 1960 Republican nominee for president.
Description
This tie clip supports a lenticular image that alternates between two designs when shifted. One image is the slogan “I’m For Nixon” and the other is a picture of Richard Nixon, the 1960 Republican nominee for president. Nixon, the sitting vice president, lost a close election to John F. Kennedy, the junior senator from Massachusetts.
date made
1960
depicted
Nixon, Richard M.
ID Number
1993.0141.12
catalog number
1993.0141.12
accession number
1993.0141

Watch, Spiro Agnew, 1970

Spiro Agnew was Richard Nixon’s running mate in 1968 and 1972. Hale E.
Description
Spiro Agnew was Richard Nixon’s running mate in 1968 and 1972. Hale E. Dougherty designed the original Spiro Agnew wristwatch in response to a common joke on college campuses in the early 1970s: “Did you know that Mickey Mouse wore a Spiro Agnew watch?” First manufactured by the Dirty Time Company, the popularity of the watch led to production of a number of knockoffs. Vice President Agnew initially liked the watch but, as it became known more as a joke than as a sign of support, he sued to prevent its sale. The case was settled out of court.
referenced
Agnew, Spiro T.
ID Number
PL.291792.01
catalog number
291792.01
accession number
291792

Button, George McGovern, 1972

Senator George McGovern of South Dakota was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for president in 1972. He was defeated by President Richard Nixon, a Republican, who was running for re-election.
Description
Senator George McGovern of South Dakota was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for president in 1972. He was defeated by President Richard Nixon, a Republican, who was running for re-election.
date made
1972
referenced
McGovern, George
ID Number
1985.0693.016
accession number
1985.0693
catalog number
1985.0693.016

Button, George McGovern, 1972

After George McGovern, senator from South Dakota, won the nomination at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, the difficult task of selecting his running mate began.
Description
After George McGovern, senator from South Dakota, won the nomination at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, the difficult task of selecting his running mate began. Following hours of debate over numerous candidates, Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri was chosen as the vice-presidential candidate. Less than three weeks after the convention, Eagleton withdrew from the ticket in the aftermath of the revelation that he had been hospitalized three times for depression and had twice received electro-shock therapy. He was replaced on the ticket by Sargent Shriver, former head of the Peace Corps and brother-in-law of President John F. Kennedy. The McGovern-Shriver ticket lost in one of the worst landslides in history to the Republican incumbents President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew.
Date made
1972
referenced
McGovern, George
Eagleton, Thomas
ID Number
2004.0180.288
accession number
2004.0180
catalog number
2004.0180.288

Pin, George McGovern, 1972

Senator George McGovern of South Dakota was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for president in 1972. He was defeated in a landslide by President Richard Nixon, a Republican, who was running for re-election.
Description
Senator George McGovern of South Dakota was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for president in 1972. He was defeated in a landslide by President Richard Nixon, a Republican, who was running for re-election.
date made
1972
associated person
McGovern, George
associated institution
Democratic National Party
ID Number
PL.304814.012
catalog number
304814.012
accession number
304814

Button, Gerald Ford, 1976

Gerald Ford is the only individual to have served as both vice president and president without having been elected to either position.
Description
Gerald Ford is the only individual to have served as both vice president and president without having been elected to either position. After almost 25 years representing Michigan in the US House, Ford was selected as Richard Nixon’s vice president upon the resignation of Spiro Agnew in December 1973. Eight months later Ford became president following President Nixon’s own resignation. In 1976, President Ford ran for election to a full term in his own right choosing as his running mate Bob Dole, senator from Kansas. They were defeated by Democrats Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. Interestingly, all four of these men were at various times the losing candidate for president—Ford in 1976, Carter in 1980, Mondale in 1984, and Dole in 1996.
Date made
1976
depicted
Ford, Gerald R.
Dole, Bob
ID Number
2003.0340.06
accession number
2003.0340
catalog number
2003.0340.06

Tag, Jimmy Carter, 1976

Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter won the presidency in 1976. This paper tag features his familiar toothy smile and celebrates his background as a peanut farmer.
Description
Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter won the presidency in 1976. This paper tag features his familiar toothy smile and celebrates his background as a peanut farmer. Carter, governor of Georgia, defeated Republican President Gerald Ford who was running to retain the office he had assumed after the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.
date made
1976
associated person
Carter, Jimmy
ID Number
1977.0039.028
accession number
1977.0039
catalog number
1977.0039.028

Belt buckle, Ronald Reagan, 1980

Former governor of California Ronald Reagan, the 1980 Republican presidential candidate, chose George H.W. Bush, his chief competitor for the nomination, to be his running mate.
Description
Former governor of California Ronald Reagan, the 1980 Republican presidential candidate, chose George H.W. Bush, his chief competitor for the nomination, to be his running mate. Although they had disagreed on several substantive issues, when asked to join the ticket Bush assured Reagan that he would support the Republican platform in its entirety. Reagan and Bush defeated their Democratic opponents President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale by almost ten percentage points. This was the biggest deficit suffered by an incumbent president since President Herbert Hoover lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt by more than 17 percentage points in 1932. John Anderson and Patrick Lucey (Independent) also lost to Reagan, finishing a distant third.
Date made
1980
associated date
1980
associated person
Reagan, Ronald
Bush, George, H. W.
associated institution
Republican National Party
maker
Sterken Adv. Co.
ID Number
1981.0490.01
accession number
1981.0490
catalog number
1981.0490.01

Button, Ronald Reagan, 1980

Ronald Reagan, the 1980 Republican presidential nominee, originated the slogan “Make America Great Again.” He and his running mate George H.W.
Description
Ronald Reagan, the 1980 Republican presidential nominee, originated the slogan “Make America Great Again.” He and his running mate George H.W. Bush used the phrase on buttons and posters in their successful campaign against President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale. Democrat Bill Clinton started his 1992 campaign with the pledge to “make America great again” and Donald Trump trademarked the slogan for his successful 2016 Republican campaign.
date made
1980
associated person
Reagan, Ronald
Bush, George, H. W.
ID Number
1980.0691.04
accession number
1980.0691
catalog number
1980.0691.04

Button, John Anderson, 1980

In 1980, Representative John Anderson of Illinois participated in 20 Republican primaries, finishing second in several, before declaring himself an independent candidate for president.
Description
In 1980, Representative John Anderson of Illinois participated in 20 Republican primaries, finishing second in several, before declaring himself an independent candidate for president. Anderson’s National Unity Campaign polled well in the summer (reaching a high of 26%) and he qualified for the ballot in all 50 states. His support declined by November but Anderson’s final total of 6.6% of the popular vote places him seventh on the all-time list of third-party candidates.
Date made
1980
referenced
Anderson, John B.
ID Number
2003.0340.10
accession number
2003.0340
catalog number
2003.0340.10

Button, Walter Mondale, 1984

Walter Mondale, the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee, chose Representative Geraldine Ferraro from New York as his running mate, the first woman to be on the national ticket of a major party.
Description
Walter Mondale, the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee, chose Representative Geraldine Ferraro from New York as his running mate, the first woman to be on the national ticket of a major party. The Democrats were endorsed by the National Education Association who had given their first presidential endorsement eight years earlier when Mondale was the successful vice-presidential nominee. Mondale and Ferraro suffered one of the worse defeats in history to Republican incumbents President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush.
date made
1984
referenced
Mondale, Walter F.
Ferraro, Geraldine O.
ID Number
1986.0666.250
accession number
1986.0666
catalog number
1986.0666.250

Button, Jimmy Carter, 1980

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale lost their re-election bid to Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, former governor of California, and his running mate George H.W. Bush, former director of the CIA.
Description
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale lost their re-election bid to Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, former governor of California, and his running mate George H.W. Bush, former director of the CIA.
date made
1980
referenced
Carter, Jimmy
Mondale, Walter F.
ID Number
1987.0396.0014
accession number
1987.0396
catalog number
1987.0396.0014

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