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Vintage and Antique Roosevelt Memorabilia
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For collectors of political memorabilia, the word “Roosevelt” can refer to any of three towering figures in United States history. First up chronologically is Theodore Roosevelt, who became the 26th President of the United States when the 25th,...
For collectors of political memorabilia, the word “Roosevelt” can refer to any of three towering figures in United States history. First up chronologically is Theodore Roosevelt, who became the 26th President of the United States when the 25th, William McKinley, was assassinated. “Teddy,” as he was often called, is followed by his cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt, the nation’s 32nd—and longest-serving—commander in chief. Then, of course, there’s Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a model for all future first ladies when she lived in the White House with her husband, FDR, and remained politically active long after his death, serving on the United Nations Commission for Human Rights for seven years before chairing the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women created by John F. Kennedy.
Teddy Roosevelt memorabilia is unique in that the most common TR-inspired object is not a piece of political memorabilia at all. It is, of course, the teddy bear, which was first produced in 1902 by a Brooklyn, New York, couple named Morris and Rose Michtom. Their inspiration was a political cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman of the “Washington Post,” in which President Roosevelt gallantly refuses to shoot a bear cub that had been tied to a tree so that he could kill the animal. Roosevelt’s sportsmanship begat the Michtom’s "Teddy's Bear," which sold so well the couple was able to finance their Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.
In fact, the teddy bear was not the first object of amusement based on the exploits of Theodore Roosevelt. In 1899, Parker Brothers introduced a board game called “The Rough Riders” that romanticized the then lieutenant colonel’s leadership of a volunteer force of more than 1,000 men and horses in several battles on the island of Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Rough Rider images of Roosevelt would continue to be used through Roosevelt’s career, often on campaign buttons. Nor was the bear the only animal associated with Theodore Roosevelt: In 1912, when Roosevelt failed to win his party’s nomination for president after being out of office for four years, he broke ranks with his fellow Republicans and joined the Progressive ticket, which became known as the Bull Moose party when Roosevelt compared his health and fitness to that of the notoriously aggressive four-legged mammal.
When Franklin Roosevelt took his first of four oaths of office in 1933, Prohibition was the law of the land. Thus, some political buttons read “Roosevelt & Repeal” to link FDR’s election with the return of legal alcoholic beverages. By the end of FDR’s first year in office, the 21st Amendment had repealed the 18th.
Also unique to the Roosevelt era are slogans on political buttons and other forms of campaign material that reference the president’s third and fourth terms, which were unprecedented and have never been repeated, thanks to the 22nd Amendment—passed and ratified after FDR’s death in 1945—prohibiting a president from serving for more than two terms. Some of these slogans include “Better a Third Termer Than a Third Rater,” “Two Good Terms Deserve Another,” and “Go 4th to Win the War,” while those opposed to Roosevelt’s longevity in office distributed pins reading “No Man is Good Three Times” and “Dictator? Not For Us.”
Less politically fraught are lapel pins that cite FDR’s love of postage stamps. One stamp-shaped pin in particular, distributed by the American Philatelic Society, depicts a smiling bust of Roosevelt beneath the words “A Stamp Collector for President,” and promises that his candidacy has earned “The Stamp of Approval.”
As for Eleanor Roosevelt, if the buttons are any indication, she enjoyed more approval after she was first lady than when her husband was in office. The ire against Eleanor was especially hot in 1940, when Roosevelt was running for a third term against Wendell Wilkie. Many buttons put down Mrs. Roosevelt in favor of Mrs. Wilkie: “We Want Edith Not Eleanor” was one simple statement while “Rather an Hour with Edith Than ‘A Day’ with Eleanor” was a catty reference to Mrs. Roosevelt’s popular newspaper column. And then there were the politically cowardly buttons like “I Don’t Want Eleanor Either,” in which those stymied by their ability to land a punch on the jaw of the president went after his wife.
Continue readingFor collectors of political memorabilia, the word “Roosevelt” can refer to any of three towering figures in United States history. First up chronologically is Theodore Roosevelt, who became the 26th President of the United States when the 25th, William McKinley, was assassinated. “Teddy,” as he was often called, is followed by his cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt, the nation’s 32nd—and longest-serving—commander in chief. Then, of course, there’s Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a model for all future first ladies when she lived in the White House with her husband, FDR, and remained politically active long after his death, serving on the United Nations Commission for Human Rights for seven years before chairing the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women created by John F. Kennedy.
Teddy Roosevelt memorabilia is unique in that the most common TR-inspired object is not a piece of political memorabilia at all. It is, of course, the teddy bear, which was first produced in 1902 by a Brooklyn, New York, couple named Morris and Rose Michtom. Their inspiration was a political cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman of the “Washington Post,” in which President Roosevelt gallantly refuses to shoot a bear cub that had been tied to a tree so that he could kill the animal. Roosevelt’s sportsmanship begat the Michtom’s "Teddy's Bear," which sold so well the couple was able to finance their Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.
In fact, the teddy bear was not the first object of amusement based on the exploits of Theodore Roosevelt. In 1899, Parker Brothers introduced a board game called “The Rough Riders” that romanticized the then lieutenant colonel’s leadership of a volunteer force of more than 1,000 men and horses in several battles on the island of Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Rough Rider images of Roosevelt would continue to be used through Roosevelt’s career, often on campaign buttons. Nor was the bear the only animal associated with Theodore Roosevelt: In 1912, when...
For collectors of political memorabilia, the word “Roosevelt” can refer to any of three towering figures in United States history. First up chronologically is Theodore Roosevelt, who became the 26th President of the United States when the 25th, William McKinley, was assassinated. “Teddy,” as he was often called, is followed by his cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt, the nation’s 32nd—and longest-serving—commander in chief. Then, of course, there’s Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a model for all future first ladies when she lived in the White House with her husband, FDR, and remained politically active long after his death, serving on the United Nations Commission for Human Rights for seven years before chairing the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women created by John F. Kennedy.
Teddy Roosevelt memorabilia is unique in that the most common TR-inspired object is not a piece of political memorabilia at all. It is, of course, the teddy bear, which was first produced in 1902 by a Brooklyn, New York, couple named Morris and Rose Michtom. Their inspiration was a political cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman of the “Washington Post,” in which President Roosevelt gallantly refuses to shoot a bear cub that had been tied to a tree so that he could kill the animal. Roosevelt’s sportsmanship begat the Michtom’s "Teddy's Bear," which sold so well the couple was able to finance their Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.
In fact, the teddy bear was not the first object of amusement based on the exploits of Theodore Roosevelt. In 1899, Parker Brothers introduced a board game called “The Rough Riders” that romanticized the then lieutenant colonel’s leadership of a volunteer force of more than 1,000 men and horses in several battles on the island of Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Rough Rider images of Roosevelt would continue to be used through Roosevelt’s career, often on campaign buttons. Nor was the bear the only animal associated with Theodore Roosevelt: In 1912, when Roosevelt failed to win his party’s nomination for president after being out of office for four years, he broke ranks with his fellow Republicans and joined the Progressive ticket, which became known as the Bull Moose party when Roosevelt compared his health and fitness to that of the notoriously aggressive four-legged mammal.
When Franklin Roosevelt took his first of four oaths of office in 1933, Prohibition was the law of the land. Thus, some political buttons read “Roosevelt & Repeal” to link FDR’s election with the return of legal alcoholic beverages. By the end of FDR’s first year in office, the 21st Amendment had repealed the 18th.
Also unique to the Roosevelt era are slogans on political buttons and other forms of campaign material that reference the president’s third and fourth terms, which were unprecedented and have never been repeated, thanks to the 22nd Amendment—passed and ratified after FDR’s death in 1945—prohibiting a president from serving for more than two terms. Some of these slogans include “Better a Third Termer Than a Third Rater,” “Two Good Terms Deserve Another,” and “Go 4th to Win the War,” while those opposed to Roosevelt’s longevity in office distributed pins reading “No Man is Good Three Times” and “Dictator? Not For Us.”
Less politically fraught are lapel pins that cite FDR’s love of postage stamps. One stamp-shaped pin in particular, distributed by the American Philatelic Society, depicts a smiling bust of Roosevelt beneath the words “A Stamp Collector for President,” and promises that his candidacy has earned “The Stamp of Approval.”
As for Eleanor Roosevelt, if the buttons are any indication, she enjoyed more approval after she was first lady than when her husband was in office. The ire against Eleanor was especially hot in 1940, when Roosevelt was running for a third term against Wendell Wilkie. Many buttons put down Mrs. Roosevelt in favor of Mrs. Wilkie: “We Want Edith Not Eleanor” was one simple statement while “Rather an Hour with Edith Than ‘A Day’ with Eleanor” was a catty reference to Mrs. Roosevelt’s popular newspaper column. And then there were the politically cowardly buttons like “I Don’t Want Eleanor Either,” in which those stymied by their ability to land a punch on the jaw of the president went after his wife.
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