M-322: Dr. Allen B. and Helen S. Shopmaker American Political Collection

The Shopmaker Collection contains over three thousand items ranging from a George Washington token dated 1789 to buttons and textiles endorsing candidates in the 2008 election. The variety of objects reflects the changing tastes of the American public and the available production technologies, ranging from 19th century brass jewelry and clothing buttons embossed with candidate's names and party symbols to today's modern, mass-produced buttons, and from porcelain plates embellished with a portrait of First Lady Helen Taft to Nancy Reagan paper dolls. With artifacts representing nearly every American election, the Shopmaker Collection provides the viewer with a broad look at how candidates have used images, slogans and symbols to woo the public, and how the public has expressed its own, often outspoken, opinions on both individuals and issues.
St. Louis Mercantile Library Art Museum
"Forward with Eisenhower-Nixon" Comic Book
10 1/4 inches by 6 1/2 inches red and tan comic book with fourteen pages. The cover has black and red writing with artwork. At the top is black letters spelling "FORWARD WITH EISENHOWER-NIXON". Beneath the top writing are drawn portraits of four different people: one in a suit, one in work clothes, a woman, and a farmer. There is a yellow bar with writing in the lower part of the cover with "Let's Continue" in black and "PEACE... PROSPERITY… PROGRESS" in red. The inside pages use the story of four relatives of a journalist looking to write about the election to highlight why voters should re-elect Eisenhower and vote Republican in the 1956 election. The last two pages feature short biographies of both Eisenhower and Nixon. The back page has another drawn portrait of Eisenhower. The writing on the back is a call to vote for both Eisenhower and a straight Republican ticket. At the bottom of the back page are black letters crediting the distributors of the comic book. Union imprint lower right corner of back page.
"I Like Ike" Tie
Grey necktie with the words “I Like Ike” written in blue surrounded by a cluster of 5 stars. These motifs are repeated throughout the tie.
"Straight From The Shoulder" Journal
10 15/16 inches by 8 3/8 inches tan journal with black and red writing. The top of the cover has red and black letters spelling "Straight from the shoulder A Journal of Political Fact VOLUME 3 NOVEMBER, 1956 NUMBER 9". This was made and distributed by the Republican National Committee as a series in the lead up to the 1956 election. There are fifteen pages in the journal with a back cover page. The content is either in support of the Eisenhower-Nixon campaign or against the Democrats or specifically the Stevenson-Kejauver campaign. There is use of their media coverage in quotes or political cartoons in addition to the writings from the Republican National Committee.
7 Reasons Print Ad
Print ad for Automatic Voting Machine Corporation of Jamestown, New York, in operation "since 1898". Headline reads "7 Reasons Why More Than 5,500 Cities, Towns and Villages in the United States Use AUTOMATC [sic] VOTING MACHINES". A black and white image of a man using the automatic voting machine in a voting booth is to the right of a bulleted list of reasons, below the headline.
A March to Eisenhower Sheet Music
11 15/16 inches by 8 7/8 inches white music sheet with cover page. The cover page is white with blue and red letters. At the top is blue letters spelling "A MARCH TO EISENHOWER". Beneath the title are blue letters spelling "WORDS BY HIRAM D. HIRSH MUSIC BY JEWEL M. FRANK". There is an American flag on a pole in the center of the page. Next to the flag are red letters spelling "Souvenir of Inauguration 1953". Below the flag is a photograph of Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the background of the cover page is a sketch of the White House. The two inside pages are white with black writing and feature the music and lyrics.
Danger Ahead! Handbill
White handbill that has a cartoon wooden sign reading "Danger Ahead" in red. The sign is surrounded by red cartoon lanterns. Below are warnings about then presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower and his military background. At the bottom "Vote for Stevenson for President" is printed in red. This poster was created by "The National Volunteers for Stevenson".
Democratic National Convention 1952 - Guest Ticket
Guest admission ticket for the 1952 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The front of the ticket has a sketch of former President Thomas Jefferson with a quote reading "The last hope of human liberty in this world rests with us." The opposite side of the ticket has the Great Seal of the United States.
Democratic National Convention 1956 - Alternate Ribbon
Red, white, and blue striped ribbon with ribbon badge depicting an American Eagle sitting atop a banner flanked by two American flags. The banner reads "Alternate Democratic National Convention 1956." A medal hanging from the ribbon reads "Chicago" and depicts the skyline of Chicago, Illinois with a large star in the sky. Beneath this image is a balancing scale surrounded by an airplane, train, and covered wagon.
Do You Want to Go Back 10 years? Flyer
The flyer is made of yellow paper with blue ink. On the front is a mock box score printed with references to "average factory wage", "Total Jobs", "Unemployment", "Union Members" and "Strikes" displayed in relation to 1946 "before "Tart-Hartley" and in 1956 "After Tart-Hartley". Below the box score "The Democrats Call These Shackles!" is printed and below is a list containing more information about the above box score. Below this "For Peace and Prosperity, Vote Republican" is printed. Text at the bottom reads "Republican Associates 315 West 9th St., Los Angeles 15, Calif.". On the back left corner "Here's our Team!" is printed. On the upper right corner "Let's work for the team...as a team!" is printed, with "as" underlined. "For, peace, prosperity, and progress, Elect Ike and Dick and give them a Republican Congress" is printed on the left side of the front. Then presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower and vice presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon's pictures are printed at the top of the page and under them are photos and names of Republicans running for congress in California. "California's Assembly Must Go Republican... Here's the 'team' with each man's assembly district opposite his name" is printed above the names and districts of candidates with "Help Keep California Prosperous And Progressive...Help Elect Your Republican Candidates!" printed below.
Eisenhower Cartoon Book
8 7/8 inches by 7 inches cartoon book about Dwight D. Eisenhower. The cover is red and blue with white letters spelling "PRESIDENT EISENHOWER'S CARTOON BOOK 95 specially drawn cartoons by 95 of America's most distinguished cartoonists with a foreword by GEORGE M. HUMPHREY, Secretary of the Treasury". There is also a cartoon of Eisenhower's head on the cover to the left of the writing and seven gold stars line the bottom of the cover. The book is made up of cartoons that were presented to Eisenhower when he became an honorary member of the National Cartoonist Society. The book was made to help save government savings bonds. The pages usually feature one piece of art and a short biography of the artist while some have three on one page.
Eisenhower Petition
Petition in support of Dwight D. Eisenhower, urging for his nomination for president at the 1952 Republican National Convention. In the upper left corner the is a red, white, and blue, striped circle with "We like Ike" printed in blue in the middle. At the top "Americans have faith in Dwight D. Eisenhower, We urge his nomination for President of the UNITED STATES at this Republican Convention. July, 1952" is printed in blue.
FDR Look 'n See Card
3 inch by 2 inch trading card portraying a cartoon image of President Franklin D. Rosevelt with a cigarette holder in his mouth in front of an American flag. A box at the bottom contains text reading "Franklin D. roosevelt Pres. U.S. 1933-1945". The reverse is red-orange with white text headlined "Franklin D Roosevelt No. 2 of 9 Presidents" above a brief biography of Roosevelt. Below is text reading "Look 'n See", above a box at the bottom containing text reading "How many times was Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president?" Placing red paper over the card would reveal the answer to the trivia question. Small text along the bottom reads "Printed in U.S.A."
Honesty, Integrity Elephant Coin
Gold coin with face of an elephant and reads, "Honesty, Integrity." Reverse of coin features the backside of a donkey and reads, "Mink, 5%, Deep Freeze, Tax Scandal" used in opposition to the Harry S. Truman administration.
Newsweek Democratic Convention Scorecard
10 7/8 inches by 13 1/2 inches cardboard card with rounded corners. At the top of the sign is red lettering that reads, "Newsweek". Below is a red bracket with black lettering inside that reads, "know the POLITICAL SCORE read NEWSWEEK". On the back of the sign is black lettering that reads, "Newsweek's DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION SCORE CARD". The majority of the back is taken up by a large graph, with labels across the top reading, "1st BALLOT", "2nd BALLOT", "3rd BALLOT", and, "4th BALLOT"; each section is subdivided into columns for each candidate (Stevenson, Harriman, Symington, and Johnson) . The left side has a label for each state reading, "ALABAMA", "ARIZONA", "ARKANSAS", etc. Much of the 1st and 2nd ballot sections are filled out in pencil and pen, tracking delegates from various states that had voted for various candidates.
Newsweek's Democratic Convention Score Card
Newsweek paper score card with votes tallied for the 1956 Democratic presidential candidates.
Stevenson for President License Plate
Green and white novelty license plate reading "Stevenson for President." The shape of a donkey's head, symbol of the Democratic Party, is to the left of Stevenson's name.
Taystee Bread - Democrat Button
1 3/4 inch diameter round pin back button with a white and blue background with the words "My Dad's a Democrat But I Vote for Taystee Bread." An illustration of a donkey is located on the right side as a symbol of the Democratic Party.
Taystee Bread - Republican Button
1 3/4 inch diameter round pin back button with a red, white, and blue background with the words "My Dad's a Republican But I Vote for Taystee Bread." An illustration of an elephant is located on the right side as a symbol of the Republican Party.
The New Yorker Magazine
The New Yorker magazine from "Nov, 3, 1956". The cover is a cartoon depiction of a green voting machine surrounded by people reading off and tallying the results. "Price 20 cents" is printed in the upper right corner. Getz is signed in the lower left corner.
Veterans for Stevenson
7 inch by 3 3/4 inch brochure. Over a green background on the front is a white circle containing a cartoon image of a soldier with text reading "I like Stevenson". Below is white text reading "Veterans for Stevenson". The "V" in "Veterans" is a hand holding up the first two fingers, representing a "peace" gesture. Inside is black text over a white background providing several statements from veterans in support of Stevenson's presidential campaign. On the back is another cartoon of a soldier holding a sign reading "Stevenson the choice of the PFC" along with a statement from Bill Mauldin. Brochure is from "Veterans for Stevenson" at "7 South Dearborn Street, Chicago 3, Illinois".
Vote Demo-Republican Button
1 3/4 inch diameter round pin back button with a red, white, and blue background with the words "Vote Demo-Republican."

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