Collecting American Presidential Campaign Memorabilia / Illustrated Book

Description

HAIL TO THE CANDIDATE:  PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS FROM BANNERS TO BROADCASTS
by Keith Melder, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington & London, 1992.
This early out-of-print book provides an in-depth survey of collectible presidential campaign memorabilia.  Superbly illustrated in color and black-and-white, this book  “showcases objects in the Ralph E. Becker Collection of Political Americana at the Smithsonian Institution.  A longtime Washington attorney, Mr. Becker started collecting political artifacts as a teenager and over the years amassed a huge collection.  He began to donate items from his collection to the Smithsonian… in 1958.”
This book celebrates an era when politics were the hallmark of a democratic process, serious and also enjoyable.  It features essays by several experts and includes such topics as the imagery of campaign and campaign devices, emblems of honor and glory, partisan campaigning from 1860-1896, personal campaigning, campaign supporters and rallies, campaign appeals to women and—inevitably—television campaigning.  The numerous color and black-and-white photographs are lively and informative as is the text itself.  There is nostalgia, of course, but a fascinating lens in these objects through which one can learn of American history and the American spirit.
9.25” x 10.75” softback in very good condition.  212 pages.
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