Favorite Items of 2017

Now just a look back at some of my favorite items I have picked up over the last year! Many are Oregon, but some are from other places.

 Ron Wyden 20 years of public service invite and tickets. I thought these were some of the best Ron Wyden items you can find (outside of the basketball that keeps eluding me). When my friend Wayne decided to close up shop here in Oregon and move back to Maine to be closer to family I wound up with a set.

Wayne Morse Christmas Cards

Merry Christmas fellow APIC Members! Here are two Christmas Cards from the collection of Oregon member John Silvertooth. Both are from Senator Wayne Morse and representative of the cards he would send out to supporters.

Lueddemann RNC Badge

Looking for help from the community on ID'ing G. Lueddemann. He apparently attended the the 1964 Republican National Convention that nominated Senator Barry Goldwater. Was he a delegate? Alternate? Staff? Press? Very curious to find out more information.

Was this person a Goldwater delegate or a delegate pledge to Nelson Rockefeller the winner of the 1964 Oregon Primary?  Goldwater tied for third place in the primary with Richard Nixon who was not an active candidate. Will have to wait for more information.

Eugene Started to Think Mink

The race for the Democratic nomination of 1972 saw one of the largest field of candidates to enter a modern day presidential primary at that time (15 candidates). The McGovern–Fraser Commission, also known as the Commission on Party Structure and Delegate Selection reformed the process in response to the 1968 Democratic primaries/convention help generate such a large selection of candidates. 

One of those candidates was Hawaii Congresswoman Patsy Mink. She helped usher in a lot of firsts.  

• She was the first Asian American woman ever elected to Congress
• She was the first woman of color ever elected to Congress
• She was the first woman ever elected to Congress from Hawaii
• She was the first Asian American ever to seek the nomination of the Democratic Party
• She was the first Democratic woman to deliver a State of the Union response
• She was the first person of color appointed as Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
  

Middle Aged Matrons

I recently picked up this great Eugene McCarthy bumper sticker. It was issued by the Benton Co. Committee for McCarthy. Middle Aged Matrons for McCarthy. I'm still trying to track down what Middle Aged Matrons is a reference to at the moment.

Another great Oregon item found! Special thanks to my friend Margaret who's sister found it in a box in Seattle and brought it back down with her this summer for me.

Political Items in Prineville

If you like to go exploring and have the time to visit Prineville, Oregon, you should go check it out. I recently visited the A.R. Bowman Museum (Crook County Historical Society). It is housed in two floors of an old bank in downtown Prineville, a few blocks from the county courthouse. Like most county centric museums there are lots of items from the 'early days' of the town and their pioneer roots (a very common theme in Oregon). There were photos of the old baseball teams, teachers, ranch hands, prominient buisnesspersons and what-have you. There was even, for fans of political items, some of those tucked away in this museum that you had to really look to find.

Here are the items I noticed.

1) William McKinely bootjack.

Most of us are probably thinking....what is a bootjack??  It is a device invented to help remove your boots. This bootjack was used in William McKinely's successful 1896 campaign for President according to the caption provided with it.

Just Oregon Buttons

A few months ago I scanned all the random Oregon themed pins I have picked up over the years while collecting political memorabilia. I'm often surprised at how much of a collection you can create just by random chance. I have not gone out of my way to pick any of these items up, they just came with political buttons I had purchased over the years. Sometimes you buy a bag or jar of buttons just to get that ONE pin.

Enjoy!

Vintage Wyden Lawn Sign

I normally try to avoid lawn signs. They are bulky, many don't display well, and they take up a lot of limited storage space. Still, on occasion, someone will mention to me 'hey Carl, I've got this old sign do you want it?' and I will usually say yes just to see the sign.

Most of us know lawn signs as either these hard rigid plastic things that just have the name of the candidate on them. Or they are disposable plastic bag signs that you can toss in the recycle after the campaign. Lawn signs use to be a big deal. They were made locally out wood, particle wood or other tough materials. Often, they were hand painted. When a friend asked me if I wanted an old Ron Wyden lawn sign, I wasn't sure what I was getting. I was glad I said YES!

Oregon JFK Items

Let's take a look at some Oregon 1960 JFK related items! These items mostly come from the collection of John Gearhart, John Silvertooth, and Carl Fisher. Many of these items were not featured in the Oregon Historical Society High Hopes exhibit.

First some JFK Oregon pins. There are at least three known pins. Two show up fairly frequently online and in collections of JFK and Oregon items. These two pins were featured in the High Hopes exhibit.

The third Blue-White-Black Kennedy shows up rarely. This is the only one I have ever seen.

Here is a great Kennedy newspaper sent during the 1960 Oregon Primary. I had been trying to purchase one for most of this year, and finally was able to get one.

JFK at 100: High Hopes

This weekend I had the chance to finally go down to the Oregon Historical Society and visit High Hopes: The Journey of John F. Kennedy. We are over half way through the JFK centennial year. While it is highly unlikely JFK would have lived to be 100 had his life never been taken so early, it is sometimes interesting to think what his life and ours would have been like had he lived.

Would he have beaten Barry Goldwater to serve a 2nd term? What would have he occupied himself with during his post-presidency? Would he have lived into the 1980s or early 1990s? Could you imagine JFK doing the talk show circuit that the 24 hour a day news service gave us? All that is fun to think about. Let's get back to the exhibit down at OHS.

Helen Cannon Delegate Badge

While taking a trip to the Oregon coast this weekend I stumbled upon a few political items. In one shop, there were some very common 1960s-1970s local Oregon candidate and national presidential buttons. Lot's of Nixon's the One!, Morse, Packwood. Many of the typical pins you might find at antique shops across the state.

In the mix of all these pins was a badge and ribbon pictured below. Still trying to find out more details about Helen Cannon and what event the badge is from exactly. It could be from an Oregon Republican State Convention in 1968 or 1972.

 If you know what event these badges were used from, please leave a comment.

Wyatt Postcard Found

This postcard was recently discovered on ebay.  It is from a campaign of Wendell Wyatt.

Hardy Myers Remembered

Shortly after Thanksgiving in 2016 Oregon lost one of its most humble public servants. Hardy Myers passed away at the age of 77. Born in Electric Mills, Mississippi. Like many, he found his way to Oregon when his family moved here for the logging. His father worked in the Bend area before settling the family in Prineville. That's where he met his future wife Mary Ann. He would go back to the East for college and then return again for to Oregon for law school.

Hardy Myers enjoyed public service. It seemed to be in his blood. As a volunteer in his local Parrish he got the attention of others in the community. He soon found himself volunteering to serve on public boards and commissions in Portland. That would then get friends to urge him to run for the Oregon Legislature. You can read about many of his accomplishments in elected office here.

2016 Democratic Primary Pins

Every election there are groups out there that produce pins featuring the entire field of candidates for any particular political party. The Democrats of 2016 were no exception. Conventions and special events that all candidates were invited to often saw a button, poster or sticker produced for it. Here are some that I was able to get this last year.

Governor Robert's 80th Birthday Party

Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts turned 80 with a special birthday party at Montgomery Park in December of 2016. It was packed with about 800 people. There were speeches, 2 other Governors of Oregon and 1 from Washington even. The Portland Trailblazers gifted her with a signed jersey. There was a photo station where you could have your photo taken in silly hats with a cardboard cut out of her. Most of all to Governor Roberts the whole event was a fundraiser for Compassion & Choices.

C&C is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving care and providing education to terminally ill patients and their families about end of life planning. A cause Roberts has been deeply passionate about for many years.

There were several items produced for the event, including an event program and button. Here is the full color program.

Favorite Oregon Obama 2008 Items

The hours on the Obama Administration are waning. He has a little over a week left in his presidency. The Trump Administration will begin shortly after Donald Trump takes the oath of office as is customary in our democracy. I thought it timely to start to look back at items from Barack Obama's campaigns in Oregon. You might have other favorite items and if you do, please share them! We will also share non Oregon items in another post.

I figured it would be good to start in 2008. From my collection, these are some of my favorites.