USAmericana Blog

I was with my best friend Pete Bergman. We were school safety patrol volunteers and part of our responsibilities were to raise the American flag the morning of each school day. We had performed our task dozens of times, always being careful to properly raise the flag and make sure that Old Glory never touched the ground.

But this day was different. We had been given specific instructions on how to raise the flag this gray morning and for the following 4 weeks: hoist the flag to its peak for an instant, then lower it to the half-staff position. As simple as these instructions were, I must have gone over them a hundred times in my head. We sensed it was important to get this right. Hoist the flag to its peak for an instant, then lower it to the half-staff position.

It was the morning of November 25, 1963, and I was 10 years old. Our President had been slain and his assassin had been murdered. The excitement of the previous Friday had turned somber as we gathered around a fittingly black and white television screen to watch the caisson carry the body of John Kennedy to his resting place at Arlington National Cemetery. We watched in silence. The only sound was the horses' hooves on the pavement.

And so on that morning and with the utmost care, while the school principal looked on, Pete and I hoisted the flag to its peak for an instant, then lowered it to the half-staff position.

It would take years to understand the significance of that day, but somehow I knew I was a tiny part of something historic, and took a moment to photograph the flag at half-mast. I turned to see the principal crying, unable to fight back the tears. And neither could we.

The most prolific American publishers of lithograph prints were Nathaniel Currier and later, James Merritt Ives, who, in a 73-year span, produced over 7,000 images and over one million prints. A wide array of subjects were published including disaster scenes, sports, trains, ships, fire fighters, humor, sentimental images, city scenes, and just about any topic that could be sold to the general public eager to buy inexpensive images with which to decorate their homes. Currier produced his first prints in the mid-1830's, before the advent of photography, and at a time when newspapers of the day did not include pictures.

Prints honoring former Presidents Washington through William Henry Harrison were made by Currier through the early 1840's, but the first true campaign prints appeared in 1844 for James Polk and Henry Clay. For political collectors, the most iconic of the Curriers are the “Grand National Banners” which feature jugate portraits of the candidates. The most common political prints made by the firm are the earliest ones, from the 1844 and 1848 campaigns, and, in general, the later prints tend to be scarcer. Prints exist for every major presidential candidate (and a few minor party candidates) starting in 1844, with the last of the campaign prints being made for the Hayes and Tilden campaign in 1876 even though Currier & Ives would remain in business until 1907.

All prints were hand colored at their print shop in New York, or sent out to contract artists, and workers were paid a few cents per print for the coloring process. The standard small folio prints were then sold to the general public for around twenty cents each.

Currier & Ives prints can often provide collectors a relatively inexpensive opportunity to add an attractive item to their collection from a candidate for whom little is attainable. Prints in reasonably decent condition from the 1844-1856 campaigns can be bought for as little as $200-300. A Lewis Cass campaign print (a candidate for which little is available) can fill a big hole in a collection for under $450. However, several Currier & Ives campaign prints from the 1860 and 1864 campaigns have exceeded the $10,000 level in recent auctions.

As is true with everything, condition is critical. Printed on cheap paper and usually framed with crude wood backings, Currier & Ives prints tend to be found discolored and damaged, so those few prints in exceptionally choice condition should command a premium.

It's not unusual to find a framed Currier & Ives campaign print at an antique store or show. A few years ago, I scored a Cass & Butler in excellent condition at an antique shop down the street for $150. Poking around the antique shops in Chico, California, I found a large format Stephen Douglas Currier & Ives for $100.

Happy hunting, and may you find that elusive Lincoln and Johnson “Grand National Banner” at your local flea market this weekend.

As we approach our 25th auction, I've been inspired to reminisce.

I began collecting political items in 1968. I had given my rather modest baseball card collection to my little brother, stamps no longer held my interest, and collecting coins had grown mundane. During that time I remember reading an article in Coinage magazine that featured political buttons – and I was hooked. The 1968 presidential campaign was approaching, the Vietnam War was raging, President Johnson would withdraw from the race, and presidential aspirants as diverse as Richard Nixon, Eugene McCarthy, George Wallace, and Robert Kennedy would capture the headlines and our political imaginations.

I joined the American Political Items Collectors, got hooked up with fellow California collectors, and started attending local APIC shows. And my interest in political memorabilia continued to grow.

While in high school, with the financial help of some dedicated parents, I resurrected the school newspaper. A basic knowledge of the printing process helped me to start The Political Collector, a monthly newspaper for the political hobby, in August of 1971. The Political Collector featured articles on the hobby and offered advertising space, and helped with expenses through my college days at the University of California San Diego. I sold the newspaper in January of 1975.

The next 13 years were spent working as a salesman for my parents' concrete company in Santa Cruz. But my passion was always presidential memorabilia, and I continued to collect, buy and sell politicals, attend APIC shows and spend my free time scouring antique shops, shows, and flea markets.

Fast forward to 1988.

I will never forget the day I went to my post office box in Capitola to find The Letter with a return address from Mrs. Shenk in Oakland. I was sad to learn that Dr. Morris Shenk has passed away, but excited that the family had indicated that I might be considered to sell his political collection, which at the time was among the finest in the country.

My first mail bid auction closed in July of 1988 and featured Dr. Shenk's extensive political postcard collection. All the postcards were shot by a local commercial photographer. Each of the 1,412 images was hand-cut with a pair of scissors, then pasted onto blue grid boards with rubber cement. I then had the auction catalogs photocopied and stapled. Bids were accepted by bid sheet or by phone, and my staff of three would pass a huge ledger back and forth on the closing night to record the bids. Invoices were hand-written (even the price realized sheet was hand written). Thank goodness the quality of the items offered was exceptional, because the catalog and the bid process were anything but. It would be the first of 25 catalogs to come.

By the time the third Shenk auction was held in August of 1989 – and with great trepidation – I purchased a rather clunky, large computer (irreverently known as “Bertha”) to record the bids, and an annoyingly noisy dot matrix printer (reverently known as “Dottie”). Bertha and Dottie worked well together, and we had taken a major step in reducing clerical errors and saving hundreds of hours of labor.

The Shenk collection spanned five auctions – the last closed in January of 1990 and featured the Doctor's collection of political sheet music. Still all black and white photos, but the quality was getting better and Dottie and Bertha continued to make my life easier.

Since then, I have featured the collections of Tom Berg, Ed Gillette, Joel Farley, Bonnie Gardner, Don Bryce, John Gingerich, Marshall Goldberg, and Bob Westerman, as well as hundreds of individual consignments from collectors throughout the country. And the ever reliable Dottie and Bertha – may they both rest in peace – have been replaced with state of the art computers, a publishing system that's second to none, and an easy to use online bidding program (although we continued to accept – and still do – bid sheets and phone bids for our computer-resistant customers).

Around 2006 it became feasible to print a full color catalog. The color process wasn't cheap, but it wasn't prohibitively expensive as in years past. Quality full color photography enabled the bidder to have a clear and accurate image of auction lots in the catalogs and online.

We are proud of the strides we've made, especially in the last few years. The credit goes to Nathan Sims, my trusted business partner, whose tireless work ethic, skills and creativity have enabled us to produce professional catalogs and a quality integrated online bidding system that has virtually eliminated errors and returns. Together, we've developed and refined our catalogs into the magazine style format featured in our latest catalogs, where the emphasis is on clarity of descriptions, overall readability, and quality of photography.

Technology sure changes rapidly these days, and with those advances and the appreciated suggestions of our customers, we will strive to embrace newly available tools and technology to make our catalogs and online retail and auction websites a pleasure to use.

As we get ready to launch our 25th auction of political memorabilia, I'm also reminded of the things that don't change. My passion for politicals has only grown since that day I discovered the hobby in the pages of Coinage in 1968, and my appreciation to be able to daily engage with a group of collectors who share my passion is a true joy.

We hope that you enjoy Auction #25, and are able to find an elusive item for your collection. As we all know, that's what it's all about.

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Auction catalog subscriptions are available online here, or you can call us at 800.372.0605 to subscribe over the phone.

Auction #25 goes online Wednesday, October 30th, 2013 at 9am PST. Catalog subscriptions are not required to bid online.

If you didn't already register for our previous auction, you may do so by clicking here.

While a little bit sleep-deprived, I couldn't wait to get into the office today and update the USAmericana blog with some thoughts that came to me on the drive back from the APIC Western Regional Show & Sale in Reno.

I was reminded time and again this weekend about what makes ours the greatest hobby in America. What makes it so special isn't only the items we collect. The real life of our hobby is in the collectors. It's always a treat to congregate to share our passion for American political history, and to swap stories of the thrill of the hunt for great items. The passion and warmth of the APIC community never ceases to inspire me.

I'd like to thank Adam Gottlieb, Cary Jung, and Tina Jung for making this experience possible. Your efforts certainly paid off in a sizeable number of walk-ins facilitated by the advance publicity. The live auctions and silent auctions were well-organized and kept the excitement rolling for two solid days - no small task.

One of my favorite moments of the show was meeting and talking to a sweet woman named Sheila, who brought in some items from her days as a flight attendant for both the Nixon and John F. Kennedy 1960 campaigns. The items she brought with her included an unknown Nixon Airs brass pin and a personalized John F. Kennedy signature, both of which brought strong bids in the Seattle rules auction ($300 for the Nixon Airs and $900 for the Kennedy signature). More than this, she brought in memories that spoke to a personal connection to an exciting and historic campaign. She told me that she was overwhelmed to encounter a group of people who responded so passionately to, referring to the Nixon Airs pin, "a little thing that had just been in her sewing basket."

I was also thrilled to double the size of my recently started early gay rights pinback collection over the course of a couple days. Finding items at a Regional show is a breeze compared to scouring flea markets and antique shops. And paying for them with my video poker winnings... that didn't hurt either.

To those who attended, thank you. It was great to see you again, and to meet a few of you for the first time. To those of you who were unable to come, when the summer of 2015 rolls around, consider GOING WEST to APIC RENO 2015 - The Classiest Little APIC Show in the Biggest LIttle City in the World! I assure you, you won't regret it.

- Nathan Sims

Although watch fobs are no longer a standard article of men's jewelry, there was a time when a pocket watch adorned with a gold or silver chain or leather strap not only gave a feeling of importance to its wearer, but could also indicate his loyalties, perhaps the fraternal organization he belonged to, his occupation, or his political preferences.

The practical use of a watch fob or chain was simply to help the wearer locate and retrieve their timepiece, but also served as a decorative or informative accessory.

For our purposes, the standard political campaign watch fob – those which feature medallions, die-cut metal, or celluloid suspended from a leather strap – had its beginnings in the 1904 Roosevelt vs. Parker campaign and saw its heyday in the 1904-1912 campaigns. Fobs were still prevalent through the 1928 campaign, but by the 1930's, had virtually become a thing of the past.

As is true with most political items, the celluloid fobs are typically pricier than the metallic varieties, and the later fobs – especially varieties from the 1916-1924 campaigns – tend to be better. Probably the rarest presidential campaign watch fobs are those celluloid jugate varieties issued for Theodore Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson from the 1912 Progressive Party campaign and can be valued in the thousands.

Take a look at this week's listings featuring a variety of watch fobs priced from the low $20.