Richard Neuberger Poster

In the months following the post we did highlighting the campaign items of Richard Neuberger a new item we had not documented before came up in our searches. 

 

 

 

This 21.5x 13.5 heavy card stock poster was issued in 1954 by the Neuberger for Senate campaign.  This is the first time I have ever seen this poster outside of photos of campaign offices from the '54 campaign. 

Richard Neuberger Book & Items

 

This Fall, OSU Press published Stephen Forrester's long-awaited biography of Oregon Senator Richard Neuberger. You can learn more about Neuberger from the Oregon Encyclopedia or Wikipedia. Better yet, go buy Stephen's book! He was a founder of Willamette Week, served as a Washington correspondent, and spent thirty-three years as the editor and publisher of The Daily Astorian. Stephen has spent many years researching and writing this work. I had pre-ordered my copy as soon as OSU Press made the link active and was thrilled when it finally arrived.



Over the years, I had met people who knew or worked for Neuberger, and it was fascinating to learn the full story of his life and how he navigated politics to find himself in a race for office that would determine the balance of power in the United States Senate.



The book includes a few pictures of some Richard Neuberger campaign items, and it made me think it has been a while since I had seen a Neuberger campaign item show up online. I decided it was time to showcase known items. The following items are from my collection and that of longtime Oregon APIC members John Silvertooth and John Gearhart.

 

The Political Items of Moses Ross

 

 Oregon APIC Member Moses Ross passed away in April of 2025. He was a passionate collector who worked in politics and ran for office several times. He was a good friend to all he encountered in Oregon and the greater APIC community. He attended the Reno APIC National in the summer of 2022. 

 

Whoop, Whoop! Remembering Portland's Bud Clark

 

Oregonians of a certain generation know the significance of hearing someone go Whoop, Whoop!. It was the eccentric catchphrase of citizen Mayor Bud Clark. He passed away earlier this month, just a month after his 90th birthday. Portlanders all know the story of Bud Clark. The owner of the Goose Hollow Inn that took on the unlikely task of running against Mayor Frank Ivancie. No one was paying attention when they should have and Clark pulled out a shocking win with 54% of the vote in 1984. 

It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone that Clark, as a community small business owner had become a community activist. He served on several local boards and helped revitalize the Goose Hollow neighborhood. Fearing that citizens were going to left with the same old leaders that were wasting chances to improve things for the city he made the unlikely decision to enter the race for Portland Mayor. 

Remembering Those We Lost in 2021

Every year we say goodbye to Oregonians that impacted politics in the state of Oregon. Here is a quick review of those that we are aware of that passed on this last year. If there is someone we missed, please let us know in the comments and we will add them. If you have political items for any of the below individuals please share those with us as well. 

Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse

 

Perhaps the most high-profile loss was that of former Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse. Above are several buttons from her various campaigns over the years.

 

Remembering Bob Dole in Oregon

The “Greatest Generation” is described as those Americans that came of age amidst the Great Depression and had their lives altered by World War II. Tom Brokaw popularized the term in his book by the same name. It produced many political leaders across the country. Young men returned home after the war and were recruited to run for office. Many found success and over a hundred of these veterans found their way to service in the U.S. Senate. One of the most prominent of these veterans was Kansas Senator Bob Dole. 

Dole passed away on December 5, 2021, at the age of 98, just two years shy of reaching 100. He had been an influential leader in the Republican party for most of my early life and had run for president three times (1980, 1988, and 1996). I thought it would be good to look back on his campaigns and visits to Oregon through the years. 

The Missing Oregon Portraits

I recently read the article in the Statesman Journal from Claire Withycombe (a descendant of Governor Withycombe) about the Oregon State Capitol Foundation trying to track down the whereabouts and general information about the missing portraits of Oregon's governors. I thought I would do a little sleuthing. I was hoping, perhaps there would be an old blurry photograph of one of the missing paintings hidden in the Wayback archives of our local Oregon newspapers. Sadly, no blurry images yet, but lots of interesting bits of information. 

I guess prior to 1896 there was no subject or explanation of who these painted men were until the office of the SOS issued cards with short bio statements about each painting. The Medford Mail Tribune mentions that biographical data will be made on cards. These two images of the article give us exactly what was written on the cards.

 

Remembering Those We Lost in 2020

A number of Oregon politicos have left us in 2020, more so than most years and instead of trying to do lengthy posts about all of them, and some that we do not have many items for we have provided links to their obituaries or other online memorials. If we have written about them in the past we have included a link to that article on our own blog. Also, if you believe we have missed someone feel free to send us a note.

 

Charles McNary Notification Celebration

In Spring/Summer 1994 edition of The Keynoter, William Alley gives us a great background on the selection of longtime Republican Senator Charles McNary as the running mate of 1940 Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie. McNary was the last Oregonian to be nominated by a major party ticket for President or Vice President. We have written here in the past about a number of major and minor party nominees for Vice President Oregon has produced over the years. We are now at the 80th anniversary of the notification ceremony of Charles McNary on his selection as the 1940 vice presidential nominee. Democratic nominee Henry Wallace was also to have a notification event in Des Moines, Iowa during the same few weeks. Hopefully there is some Iowa and Wallace fan that can write that article.

First, it is important to know what a notification ceremony is, as political parties no longer hold such events. The closest thing that might come to a notification event in modern times is the press conference where a nominee will announce their selection of the vice presidential nominee.What is a committee of notification?  According to An Introduction to Political Parties and Practical Politics written by noted Berkeley Professor of Political Science Perley Orman Ray in 1912.

With the naming of a candidate for vice president, it only remains for the convention to authorize the appointment of a committee consisting of one from each State, formally to notify the presidential candidate of his nomination and a similar committee to notify the vice-presidential candidate. The business of the convention then being at an end, it adjourns sine die. These committees on notification subsequently visits the nominee at his home, or meet him at some appointed place. The chairman, or some other previously selected member, makes a formal speech notifying the candidate the action of the convention. Thereupon the candidate delivers his "speech of acceptance"           (p.164-165)

Modern conventions have no notification committees that travel out to nominees homes to hear of their acceptance. Now this all takes place at the highly choreographed political conventions we are accustomed to experiencing today. The 1940s were still the infancy of television. Most families did not see televisions enter their homes until after WWII in the 1950s. The political campaigns of the 1940, '44, and '48 were the last to be done before the majority of Americans owned televisions. Conventions were still affairs for the newspaper and radio services.

Modern day conventions wrap the whole process in a bow for the media. Instead of nominees being selected and ending the convention to travel to them to hear if they accept, the nominees now accept nomination before the actual convention. Nearly all nominees for vice president are known well in advance of the convention. The final night of the convention culminates with the presidential nominee and vice presidential nominee awash in a sea of delegates, balloons and bands. This was not the case in 1940, when Charles McNary accepted his nomination.

Who was Manley J Wilson?

Oregon collectors and Oregon history buffs I know are telling themselves 'I think he was an Oregon candidate' or 'wasn't he in the legislature?' You would be correct on both of those fronts, but few people know anything more about Wilson than that. We hope this article will shed some much-needed light on his background for APIC members and the public.

Manley J Wilson represented Columbia and Clatsop County in the Oregon House of Representatives (HD 23) for four terms prior to being elected to the Oregon Senate in 1950. In the 1940s. Timber, Fishing and Farming were the mainstays of daily life in Columbia County. This is the community Wilson represented. They were union families and they were Democrats. Wilson himself was Editor of the Woodworker, the official publication of the International Woodworkers of America.

Bucks for Morse Button

 This is a follow up to Preston Malcolm's Keynoter article Odd Man Out Wayne Morse of Oregon that first appeared in the Summer 1981 issue. The article identifies the Volunteer Solicitor Bucks for Morse pin as one of the more scarce Morse pins. It seems to be very scarce based on conversations and posts on social media with fellow locals collectors. I have not been able to find one of these pins yet in Oregon. I was able to pick one up a few years ago in one of Norm Eavenson's online sales. I was ecstatic to find one finally! The one I purchased was number 987. Since finding the button and tracking down a few more in other collectors collection I started asking around about what campaign it was used in and who issued it. Little seemed known from other collectors. They just knew like me that it was from the 1950s and was very hard to find. The button is a 3" celluloid pin with a Portland, Oregon union bug on the face. Known numbers in private collections include 41, 331, 592, 610, 848, and 987. If you have one, please be kind and send me your number.

Portland Made Humphrey Stickers

We have recently come across a green HHH sticker made in Portland, Oregon. For a long time we had known of the smaller blue HHH sticker. Many members have it in their collections. Both of these stickers have Portland, Oregon union stickers on the face. Pretty neat to find a second sticker.

The two stickers have different photos of HHH in them, but with the same slogan. Note that the different union bugs are position in the same location on each sticker. It makes me wonder why a photo of Humphrey and Muskie were not used on these stickers, even if the stickers mention both candidates.

Norma Paulus Remembered

Norma Paulus was the first woman to ever be elected to statewide office in Oregon history. 1976 was the first presidential election after Watergate and voters made their feelings known throughout the country about the shenanigans of the Republican Party and President Nixon. President Ford would seek the GOP nomination and have to fend off a strong challenge from California Governor Ronald Reagan.

In Oregon, Republicans had held most statewide offices for decades.  Paulus was elected after Clay Myers had held the position. She would be the last Republican Secretary of State until 2016 when Dennis Richardson was elected. The Oregon Republicans had held the Secretary of State office from 1878 to 1985. Norma Paulus paved the way for women gaining statewide office in Oregon. She won two successful campaigns for Secretary of State and two terms as Oregon's Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Vintage Lawn Art: Roberts & Whiting

 I have been recently gifted two vintage lawn signs from the 1970s and 1980s. The first one that was given to me was from the campaign of a local Tigard office holder. Her name was Patricia Whiting. After the creation of single-member districts, she was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives. The owners of Whiting's former home found the sign in the garage when they purchased it. I traded them a Whiting bumper sticker for the sign.

McCall March Madness!

 

McCall March Madness starts Monday, March 4th!  To celebrate Oregon's Tom McCall we will be giving away one Tom McCall item every Monday in March! It might be a bumper sticker, book, photo or other Tom McCall related item. All you have to do is subscribe to our email list and answer the Tom McCall Trivia question when it is sent out that Monday. A random winner will be selected from the folks that answered the question correctly.

This contest is thanks to the generosity of the Oregon American Political Item Collectors and friends. To subscribe to our email list simply fill out the form that reads "Subscribe to our mailing list" and be sure to look for an email on Monday with the trivia question.

WAGONER Who?

Ever come across a button that you have no clue about? For many years I had no idea who Wagoner was. I knew it was an Oregon pin, only because several respected Oregon collectors had it in their collections. I finally found one at the Salem Armory several years ago. I recently found another one this last weekend at a shop in Oregon City. I decided it was time to find answers to who was Wagoner. A few years ago, this wouldn't have been possible. As more and more historical databases and records become available online, more information becomes avaliable to researchers. This time, it was a quick search result of the 1938 Election and Wagoner brought me a quick result. 

The old Oregon index made by the Oregon APIC Chapter in the 1980s noted the name of Clarence R. Wagoner. The first hit was in the online database called Our Campaigns. This is where I found that Wagoner had run in the crowded 1938 Oregon Republican Primary for Governor.

Eventual winner Charles Sprague won the crowded race with 48% of the vote and Wagoner came in a distant third earning 9% of the vote. While this was important to establish the legitimacy of the button, it didn't help me figure out who Wagoner was or what he stood for.

George HW Bush Medford Button

In the heat of the 1992 campaign President George H.W. Bush made one of only three trips to Oregon during his term in the White House. He spoke at a lumber mill to workers from Southern Oregon and California. This was during the height of the 'spotted owl vs workers' debate and the 1992 presidential campaign in Oregon lay open the clear divisions between the urban and rural divide.

Here is some video coverage of the event. Watch NEWS CAST

This trip produced one button.

George HW Bush Letterhead from 1980

The next item this week we are going to present from the campaigns of George Herbert Walker Bush is a sample of letterhead from his 1980 Oregon Primary campaign. I was able to pick this sample up from eBay a couple years ago from a local seller in West Linn, Oregon. The lot came with a sample of the letterhead, envelope and campaign brochure.

Oregon items of George H.W. Bush

There are sure to be lots of tributes and objective analyses  over the next several weeks to the life and legacy of George Herbert Walker Bush. In this post, we will  start to take a look at some of the campaign items originating from Oregon that you can find out there.

George Bush ran three campaigns here in Oregon for President (1980, 1988, and 1992), he was also on the ballot for Vice President in 1980 and 1984. We'll focus on items from his presidential campaigns first then round out with some select Reagan-Bush items from 1980 and 1984.

Richard Neuberger Bumper Sticker

Picked up this bumper sticker from the successful 1954 campaign of Richard Neuberger. He was the first Democrat to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Oregon since 1914. He won by a little over 2,000 votes out of half a million cast in the election.

He served along side Wayne Morse, and their famous feud is well documented. A noted journalist of America, the Pacific Northwest and politics. Nueberger was a natural storyteller. He wrote many articles for dozens of publications during his life. Some were even collected into books. I have not had great luck finding Neuberger for Senate items over the years. This was the first thing on Ebay I think I have ever purchased for Neuberger.

Most of the time you can find the Conservationists for Neuberger items. There is a seed pack that was designed for sportsman to disperse in the wild to make up for the grass they trample on while hunting. The other item that has been seen frequently in collections is the Conservationists for Neuberger tab. Blogger Andy Kerr has written a little bit about Neuberger's conservation work at his blog.