Campaign Badges From History

It's campaign season!

If you're like me, you're probably getting tired of seeing and hearing campaign ads everywhere. They all seem to say the same things over and over, don't they?

Just for fun, I thought we could go back in history and look at something more interesting (and entertaining!) - campaign badges!

Political Police

If you think politics are rowdy now, you should have seen the 1860s! Riots, disruptions, brawls and beatings were often seen at political rallies. That's why the "Wide Awakes" were formed - to "protect" Republican party members at political meetings. Of course, they didn't mind doing a little rough stuff themselves to the other side, but their 1860 Mission Statement sounded quite virtuous:

To act as a political police. To do escort duty to all prominent Republican speakers who visit our place to address our citizens. To attend all public meetings in a body and see that order is kept and that the speaker and meeting is not disturbed. To attend the polls and see that justice is done to every legal voter. To conduct themselves in such a manner as to induce all Republicans to join them. To be a body joined together in large numbers to work for the good of the Republican Ticket.

A Mark For the Enemy

May 30th 1861

Dear Brother
I take my pen in hand this morning to write you a few lines....Hutchens are all unionists I believe even to the women Some of us got to arguing with Eliza yesterday but we might as well have tried to make her believe that the sun shines here in the night as to make a secessionist of her, and this is the way with all the unionists Tell John Beard he must try to make a secessionist of his father and Sam. ...Thomas have you received your secession badge yet Hannah was telling us that she had made one for you but Ma told her she ought not to have done it as it would be a mark for the enemy to shoot at. You must excuse all these mistakes scratches & blotches in this nor you must not criticise it so closely as you used to do

I remain your affectionate sister

Mary A Smiley

We Will Print No Badges

Debate raged hotly in 1863-64 between the War Democrats and the Peace Democrats, also called Copperheads. In Ohio, in particular, tempers were high between John Brough (War Democrat) and Clement Vallandigham (Peace Democrat) who were both running for govnernor. I guess the "Tiffin Weekly Tribune's" position was pretty clear from the following statement:

The War Democrats of Ohio have cut loose from the Copperheads. They met in State Convention at Columbus a week ago, and took strong grounds in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war; sustained the National Administration and the soldiers in the field, and condemned the nomination and the course of Vallandigham. No Nominations were made. The Ohio war Democrats generally, will support Brough.

Don’t Laugh:—“We will print no Vallandigham badges on the day of the Brough meetings.”—Advertiser.

If you do, you must have a hard check, after such disgraceful proceedings on that 18th. The idea of printing badges for a traitor to his country - a man that was banished from his native State for treason! O, shame, where is thy blush!

Hogarth's 1754 "The Polling," shows both
buff and blue flags and cockades

British Cockades and Corruption

But angst over political badges wasn't confined just to the United States. There were rows over cockades for decades in England. Laws were passed periodically trying to suppress both cockades and corruption, as evidenced by this quote:

"Mr. Lockhart said (March 2d, 1818,) that he approved of the general principle of the (election laws amendment) bill, especially that part forbidding the distribution of cockades. He had known 30,000 cockades given away at an election, and this signal of party was thus made an engine of bribery, not to the multitude at large, but towards persons of particular trades."

Several decades later, Charles Dickens noted the quarrel over cockades and corruption was still raging. In his Household Words in August 1853, tongue firmly in cheek, he noted humorously:

FLAGS TO FURL.

FLAGS, pennons, banners, bribery, beer, cockades, rosettes, brass bands and bludgeons being manifestly contrary and inimical to virtue, are to be abolished by the strong arm of the law. They are not in themselves, as things, essentially immoral; but they are vicious, when taken in connection with the election of members to the Commons House of Parliament. That assembly, confessed to be composed of the collective wisdom of the nation, has perhaps been held to include also the collective national virtue; and with this view, a Bill has been introduced, and is now before the House relating to expenses at elections, in which war to the knife is waged against every species of flag, banner, rosette, cockade, colour, or procession, which might dare to flaunt its drapery during, or immediately before or after, an election. The game is up. The flags must be furled.

In case you're wondering, the law was passed in 1854 and states the following:

An Act to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to Bribery, Treating, and undue Influence at Elections of Members of Parliament. 10th August 1854.

Section VII: No Candidate before, during, or after any Election shall in regard to such Election, by himself or Agent, directly or indirectly, give or provide to or for any Person having a Vote at such Election, or to or for any Inhabitant of the County, City, Borough, or Place for which such Election is had, any Cockade, Ribbon or other Mark of Distinction; and every Person so giving or providing shall for every such offence forfeit the Sum of Two Pounds to such Person as shall sue for the same, together with full Costs of Suit; and all Payments within this Act.

Black Cockade Federalists - Horrors!

And for a final example of election furor over cockades, I'll go to my favorite: the 1840 US presidential election. William Henry Harrison, a retired Army general and war hero, was running for president. The black cockade he wore as part of his required US Army uniform had since become synonymous with Federalist party tyranny and was hated by a much of the public. Therefore a violent debate raged in the press as to whether - get ready for this - General Harrison ever wore the black cockade after he retired! Horrors! 

I don't have space for all the hysterical items in the press (you can read some of them in my blog here), but here's just one from the 1840 Columbia (Bloosmburg, PA) Democrat: 

The Boston Courier, a violent Harrison paper, refers to the charge of the democratic presses against Gen. Harrison, that he wore a BLACK COCKADE curing the reign of Terror in 1800 in the following independent manner:

“The Van Buren papers are charging Gen. Harrison with having worn a black cockade during the reign of the elder Adams and parade the testimony of a Mr. Fowler of Kentucky, in support of the Imputation. Well, suppose Gen. Harrison did.  HE COULD NOT HAVE WORN A MORE HONORABLE BADGE, OR SUPPORTED A PURER ADMINISTRATION!”

Support Your Candidate!

Whether you want to "support" a candidate from history or support a candidate today, I'm happy to make a cockade for you!

Search "campaign" to see some of my ready-made designs or contact me for a custom order. I'll be glad to make something for your candidate.

Whether we like rowdy politics or not, we are indeed blessed to be in a country where we can campaign and vote freely! So... go vote!

Votes For Women: Suffragette Badges

On August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution. It declares: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

Controversy and Division 

The movement that would create this amendment had its roots 80 years earlier. In the 1840s, the American women's rights movement began and the first women's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls in 1848. The most controversial resolution of the convention was that supporting women's suffrage. In the end, only 1/3 of the attendees signed the resolution supporting women's suffrage, in spite of the fact that people such as Frederick Douglas argued in favor of it. But as time went on, the issue became a solid plank of the women's rights movement. Two national women's suffrage organizations were eventually established in 1869. One was led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the other by Lucy Stone. There was violent rivalry between the groups for decades.

Unity and Militancy

Eventually in 1890 the two groups joined forces under the leadership of Susan B. Anthony.

For many years, the women's suffrage movement worked through the political and court systems. But progress was slow. In 1916 the National Woman's Party was formed, a militant group that engaged in picketing, chaining themselves to the White House fence, and hunger strikes to gain attention for their cause. These methods proved effective, and the Nineteenth Amendment was passed just four years later, in 1920.

American Women's Suffragette Badges. NWHM.

Suffragette Badges

The British militant group, the Women's Social and Political Union, formed in 1908. One of the actions of the WSPU was to have a permanent affect on women's jewelry and accessories: They purposely chose a noticeable, attractive color scheme for the women's suffrage cause.

A brilliant tricolor theme was chosen for the WSPU activities. Mrs. Pethick-Lawrence, co-editor of the weekly newspaper Votes for Women, wrote in 1908:

Rosette belt. Museum of London.

Purple as everyone knows is the royal colour. It stands for the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette, the instinct of freedom and dignity…white stands for purity in private and public life…green is the colour of hope and the emblem of spring.

The colours enable us to make that appeal to the eye which is so irresistible. The result of our processions is that this movement becomes identified in the mind of the onlooker with colour, gay sound, movement, and beauty.

American and British suffragette badges shared the penchant for purple, but where British ladies paired it with green, American ladies added brilliant yellow. Both color schemes fulfilled their purpose: they were noticeable!

Suffragette Cockades

Many suffragette badges were simply metal lapel pins, but some were beautiful ribbon badges. I offer both American and British suffragette badges in my shop.

Candidates, Campaigns and Cockades

Here in South Carolina, we're hearing a lot of election talk as candidates for the 2016 Presidential race hold rallies and fundraising events in our state. Signs and campaign buttons are beginning to blossom in yards and on people's lapels. All this election fervor prompted me to go through my files on historic campaign badges.

Cockades have been used for over 150 years in American presidential campaigns. With the invention of the tintype button, it became easy for people to put a picture of their favorite candidate on a patriotic rosette.

This is a lovely cockade from the 1860 presidential election, featuring candidate Stephen Douglas (of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates). Early campaign cockades often had the tricolor red, white and blue separated into sections and this cockade is no exception. It appears to have originally had more streamers, possibly printed with words. The remaining blue streamer seems to have the word "Union" on it.

It's only natural that we look at a cockade from his rival, Abraham Lincoln. This cockade is from the 1864 election. You can tell that because the photo of Lincoln has a beard, something he hadn't yet grown in 1860. Once again, the three colors of the cockade are grouped separately in striking fan-shaped designs.

This 1864 Lincoln cockade is styled differently, however. The colors are placed in separate rings, something that was becoming common for patriotic cockades in general. 

Since we're in the 1860s, let's take a look at the other American election that happened then - the election for a president of the Confederate States of America. In this case, the choice for candidate was easy - such was Jefferson Davis's stature that he ran unopposed and was elected to a six-year term. This cockade shows the brilliant red and white, which have often been called the colors of the Confederacy.

By the way, this cockade is from an earlier Davis campaign, likely his 1857 senatorial race.

The campaign cockades didn't end with the Civil War. General U.S. Grant ran for president in 1868 and this beautiful velvet cockade is from that era. Rather showy, isn't it? Even the tintype button is rimmed in velvet!

As time went on, the candidates' photos became more sophisticated but the cockades remained lavish and flashy. Here's a beautiful one from 1896 for William McKinley. It looks almost exactly like the Lincoln cockade above, doesn't it?

Teddy Roosevelt's campaign produced some lovely cockades as well. Here's a gorgeous one with multiple "fans" and bullion tassels radiating out from the photo button.

As metal buttons and stickers became easier to produce in the twentieth century, cockades began to disappear. But a few still occasionally surfaced. Here's a brilliant one for Jimmy Carter's 1976 race.

And here's a striking one for Ronald Reagan's 1981 presidential inauguration.

I've heard a lot of talk about bringing back the values of the past to the presidency. But I have a further suggestion - Don't you think it's time to bring back these cockades? I do!

(And I'm not a bit biased, of course!)

In pursuing that line of thought, I have decided to offer a custom campaign cockade - you can have the candidate of your choice in the center! Just let me know who you are supporting and I'll be happy to put his or her photo in the center!

Corruption and Cockades - Better Together?

As the counting begins for the Scottish vote on whether to become independent of Great Britain, I thought it might be entertaining to look at an old election law in Great Britain.

Back in 1854, Britain began to formally define "Corrupt Practices" in politics. In "An Act to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to Bribery, Treating, and undue Influence at Elections of Members of Parliament," the following was sternly warned against:

Section VII: No Candidate before, during, or after any Election shall in regard to such Election, by himself or Agent, directly or indirectly, give or provide to or for any Person having a Vote at such Election, or to or for any Inhabitant of the County, City, Borough, or Place for which such Election is had, any Cockade, Ribbon or other Mark of Distinction; and every Person so giving or providing shall for every such offence forfeit the Sum of Two Pounds to such Person as shall sue for the same, together with full Costs of Suit; and all Payments within this Act.

So there you have it - Cockades and Corruption, a Clear Connection! LOL

What do you think of today's vote? Would you vote for or against Scottish independence?

And most importantly to me, would you wear a Scottish cockade? :)