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.

The TOPS slogan was a direct jab at Oregon's Wayne Morse. The Kennedy campaign and allies claimed that Morse was not a serious candidate for the presidency. The advertising firm Heims & Turtledove designed radio spots and the mailer you see above. At the link, you can listen to some of the radio spots and see the full mailer. A really great item that I was surprised was not in the OHS display.

(Edited 8/27/17)
The link is no longer active. You can still view the content through the Internet Wayback Machine here: https://web.archive.org/web/20130102184827/http://www.turtledove.com:80/vault/oregon-for-kennedy-1960/

JFK posters are iconic. They pop out at all who see them. The Oregon Primary JFK poster was no exception. They followed the 'TIME FOR GREATNESS' themed posters were used in Oregon and included the Oregon campaign committee info on them. I have seen these particular posters for several states.

 These posters range from 50-100 dollars depending on condition. They can get up to 125+ if the condition is really good. We last wrote about them in 2013 (SEE POST).What follows now are just a few programs and handouts from various JFK speaking engagements.

Some really great JFK items from members collections. We hope you enjoyed them. Remember, get down to OHS in downtown Portland before November and go experience High Hopes for yourself.