This three-sided transparency was originally illuminated from inside by a small oil lamp and carried in campaign parades.
By the middle of the 1800s, spectacular events became the hallmark of American presidential campaigns, and a highlight of every election was the torchlight parade. Hoping to inspire the most apathetic voter to cast a ballot for their candidate, hundreds if not thousands of marchers in cities across the country brightened the night sky in the evenings leading up to the election. Lincoln supporters organized torchlight parades throughout the North during the 1860 campaign.
Gift of Mrs. Robert A. Hubbard, 1961
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