The Votes Are In!
Collectors declare Hake’s political memorabilia auction a runaway winner.
For more than 230 years, political campaigns have relied on attracting voters partly with material items, including campaign buttons, delegate badges, jewelry, lapel ribbons, pamphlets, posters, and more that document the history of our country’s political landscape.
Collectors avidly seek political memorabilia for its historic value. It is a particularly rich resource for understanding the transformation of American politics across the 19th and 20th centuries. It documents shifting political party platforms, the culture of nominating conventions, and expanding avenues of activism and electioneering.
When Ted Hake founded Hake’s Auctions in 1967, political Americana was its foundational category. Since then, the auction house has sold thousands of items, often setting world-record prices.
Hake’s showcased more superb political memorabilia at its premier Auction 241, which closed on July 31 and Aug. 1. Day 1 offered more than 500 items that stirred the patriotic spirit of bidders and represented a cross-section of American politics, including banners, buttons, posters, and more.
Campaign button, William McKinley and Garret Hobart, 1896. 1 1/4 in., $17,587.
Memorabilia from 1776 to the late 1800s is some of the most prized by collectors, as are campaign buttons. The top lot of political items combined both: an important campaign button from 1896 for Republicans William McKinley and Garret Hobart that sold for $17,587, thousands above its high estimate of $10,000. The button features the pair riding a bicycle to the White House, and the rim slogan reads, “Gold Didn’t Get There July 7th/But Watch Us Take It There Nov. 3rd.” The first part of the slogan refers to the date of the Democratic National Convention, where William Bryan made his famous “Cross of Gold” speech. The button is among the hobby’s rarest and most desirable pin-back designs.
Left to right: Rare Roosevelt campaign button, 1912, 1 1/4 in., $9,735.
Hughes & Fairbanks furled flag jugate button, 1 1/4 in., $13,758.
Roosevelt Capital & Labor “Equal Protection” campaign button, 1904, 1 1/4 in., $13,629.
A trio of other pin-back buttons were also top-selling lots: an exceptional furled flag jugate button for Charles Hughes and Charles Fairbanks sold for $13,758; a rare 1904 Theodore Roosevelt Capital & Labor Equal Protection campaign button fetched $13,629; and a rare 1912 button for Theodore Roosevelt with the slogan, “My Hat is in the Ring. Let the People Rule,” brought $9,735, or nearly double its high estimate of $5,000.
Factors that help determine the value of a piece of political memorabilia include age, rarity, condition, and popularity. For presidential pieces, the president’s identity can matter. Some presidents are more popular than others, at least in the context of historical items, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.
Figural head of John F. Kennedy, 1960, 33 in. h, $7,607.
Another hot lot was a massive figural head of Kennedy from the 1960 Democratic National Convention that sold for $7,607. The papier-mâché head, 33 inches high, was meant to be affixed to a pole and waved by supporters on the convention floor. Two examples were made for use at the convention, with the one Hake’s offered as the only surviving example.
“I Am a Man” sanitation workers strike civil rights poster,
1968, 22 in. by 28 in., $6,490.
Other top sellers included a 1968 “I Am a Man” poster from the sanitation workers’ strike that sold for $6,490 and a James M. Cox ribbon badge highlighting his membership in the “Gem City Democratic Club of Dayton, Ohio,” that sold for $4,720.
James M. Cox ribbon badge 1920, 7 in. L, $,4,720.
For more results, visit the Hakes Auction website. Photos courtesy of Hake’s Auctions
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