Vintage Political Pinbacks and Campaign Buttons

Want a quick tour of the U.S. political landscape of the past 100 or so years? Just take a look at the political campaign buttons churned out to help either promote or discredit a century’s worth of prospective public servants. While political-themed pins have been around at least since the inauguration of George Washington in 1789, when boosters wore metal buttons engraved with a simple “GW," the field really took off after the 1890s, when Amanda M. Lougee’s invention of a button covered with transparent celluloid took the campaign industry by storm. This style allowed for endless varieties to be made very cheaply, using a printed paper or metal disk beneath the clear celluloid cover, both of which are secured by a metal ring or “collet.” Celluloid pinbacks, often called “cellos” by collectors, were eventually joined by lithographed buttons or “lithos,” beginning with those sold during the Harding-Cox election of 1920. Lithographed designs were printed directly onto the button’s metal face, which made them more susceptible to damage, though there was an attempt to correct this around the time of the 1984 Reagan-Mondale campaigns by giving the buttons a clear plastic coating. Vintage pinbacks are often decorated with somber portraits of candidates framed by flags, while others feature catchy slogans, from “Win With Wilson” in 1912 to “I Like Ike” 40 years later. Besides the famous presidential campaigns, buttons have been made for every niche political cause and character over the last century, including the Temperance movement, women’s suffrage, labor unions, abolitionists, anti-war groups, the American Indian movement, and even the First Ladies. Contemporary campaigns keep adding to the field of political pinbacks with limited-edition designs by artists like Bob Alexander of Guardfrog. Many enthusiasts head to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions every four years to buy and sell the latest political buttons, which are instantly collectible.