Old campaign buttons could fetch a pretty penny
QI don’t know what to do with this collection of political memorabilia but, in this day and age, it seems to me that collectors might be interested. It’s been in my family as long as I can remember, but I don’t know who in my family compiled the collection. I’m downsizing and hope someone will take this off my hands. Should I try to sell the collection as a whole or should I sell the buttons individually? A What a lovely collection and an interesting question. In my experience with auctions over the past 20 years, I’ve learned that the whole is frequently more than the sum of its parts, so I’d be inclined to keep a carefully curated collection like yours intact.
Additionally, the success of an auction sale is somewhat determined by the scarcity — whether real or perceived – of an item. If you break up a collection, there will be plenty to go around for all interested parties. If you keep the collection as a whole, all of the interested parties will compete with each other, and theoretically, you’ll achieve a higher price.
My theory aside, you have some marvelous examples of early political campaign buttons from the turn of the last century, the bulk of them related to William McKinley, our 25th president. McKinley and his vice president, Garret Hobart, were strident in their commitment to keep the United States on the gold standard. This explains why many of your buttons show portraits of the two of them against a gold background.
The pin featuring a dinner bucket and a factory with smokestacks reading the legend “Do you smoke? Yes, since 1896” is a resurrection of McKinley’s successful 1896 campaign slogan of “McKinley and a Full Dinner Bucket,” which appealed to the working classes.
Your 1900 version superimposes a thriving factory on top of the dinner bucket, reminding voters that McKinley was looking after the welfare of workers and American industries.
VP Hobart died in office in 1899; Teddy Roosevelt, then New York governor, replaced him on the 1900 Republican ticket. When McKinley was assassinated in 1901, Roosevelt succeeded him as president.
Your Roosevelt “Stand Pat” button is highly sought after. It features a poker hand of four aces and a portrait of Roosevelt. The 1904 campaign slogan urged voters to keep the hand they have and once again vote the Republican ticket into the White House.
You only have one representation of Roosevelt’s opposing ticket, the ill-fated Democratic team of Alton Parker and Henry Davis. A rooster dressed as Uncle Sam quoting “Shure Mike?” centers the Parker and Davis portraits. I have been unable to trace any reliable history on the phrase — my best guess is that it had something to do with Parker’s accusations that the Roosevelt campaign accepted tainted contributions — but likely it struck a nerve with the voters of 1904.
Your collection of 40 or more political pins is of great historic, advertising and presidential interest. In today’s politically charged climate, I would estimate the monetary value of the group to be in the range of $1,500 to $2,500.