Write-Ins are Personal: Wayne Morse

 How fascinating that during the month of February we learn the origin of the 'Write-In Wayne Morse The Dark Horse' for President bumper sticker I picked up a few years ago on ebay from a seller in Washington State. If you are patient, with the massive digitizing of older media, you will eventually stumble upon some answers. 

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.

WRITE-IN MORSE Found

It has been a really slow year for finding new Wayne Morse items. I really haven't picked up much since January. That all changed the other day. I was getting ready to leave the house for a long day of activities and I randomly decided to login to ebay and look for some political items. That's where I stumbled upon this bumper sticker.

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.

Wayne Morse OEA Award

This item was picked up from an ebay seller in Indiana who believed it came from the estate of another former Senator. It was found in a box in 'as is' condition.

Gifted from the Oregon Education Association to Senator Morse for his leadership in education. I have looked for a reference to an event for the date, but have not yet found one.

Any pen experts out there know where I might find some supplies to put new pens on this?

Morse 1962 Postcards

When looking over my Wayne Morse items I am always perplexed at how few items from his 1962 re-election campaign I have been able to find outside of brochures. There are two postcards that look pretty much the same from the front, but on the reverse have two separate layouts.

The front of these two cards look very similar, they both feature Morse standing next to a globe holding his glasses. One is slightly wider and shorter than the other.

Here is the photo that appears on the card

Photo is Morse of Course!

An old newsprint photo has been causing some discussion amongst collectors on the APIC facebook page. I was searching for photos used in newsprint of collectors and their collections when I stumbled upon this photo of Emanuel Ress from 1960. He is inspecting laminated prints for 1960 presidential hopefuls that he plans to sell to the public. As you can see there are pins for Nixon, Kennedy, Johnson, Humphrey and several for Senator Wayne Morse.

Morse of course, was the Oregon Democrat running for President in the 1960 primaries. While he was only officially on the ballot in three contests (Maryland, DC, and Oregon) he claimed to have organizers working for him in most states that held state conventions to select delegates. I am a huge Morse fan and wrote my last political science paper in college on his 1960 effort. I have so far been unable to find ay firm details on these various efforts outside of those three mentioned above, but, like so much political organizing today it may have gone largely unnoticed.

Ress inspecting the quality of his prints for buttons.

Al Ullman Tweeted At Me

Oregon APIC member Grant Schott tweeted this neat photo of Congressman Al Ullman to me over the weekend. I thought I would share it here.

This photo was taken in 1956 during a Stevenson and Democratic campaign rally at Bonneville Dam. Note the silver shoe lapel pin and the Oregon Needs Morse 7/8 inch pin. Of course, Ullman is wearing a much larger pin with his name on it.

Ullman was a legendary political mover and shaker in Congress. As we have mentioned before, the highpoint of his congressional influence came as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee from 1974-1981.

It is always fun to find a photo of an Oregon politician wearing some campaign regalia. Thanks  @grantschott

Have a photo share with us? Just post it here in the comments. 

September Finds: Morse, Throop, & More

Turned up several neat items in antique and thrift shops around my area. The first is a Wayne Morse bumper sticker from his 1956 re-election campaign. Really neat item, and a first for me.

As most know, Morse had recently switched from the GOP to the Democrats after growing increasingly frustrated with party leadership and the direction the party was going on many policy fronts. He would win in 1956, by defeating former Oregon Governor and then Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay.

Sig, Wayne, & Mark

1962 Unander for Senate Button

Sig Unander is probably not a household Oregon name to any. When I first found this pin several years ago, I didn't even know it was an Oregon item. Coming to political prominence during the post war years in the late 40s and was active in statewide politics in the 1950s and 60s. Unander, like many Oregon politicos of his era, got his start in the young Republican organizations that existed in the state at that time.

The biggest reason why Unander is not a household name is because he never became Governor of Oregon. He was beat out by fellow Republican Mark Hatfield in the 1958 Republican primary. Hatfield of course became the famous young Republican that beat Governor Robert Holmes. 1958 was also unusual in that every member of the state board (Governor, State Treasurer, and Secretary of State) were all running for governor at the same time.

Unander probably felt a little slighted by the challenge in the GOP primary by Hatfield. Unander had just a little more seniority in the Republican ranks than Hatfield. People at this level in politics have long memories. The campaign got a little rough towards the end and Hatfield bested Unander in the primary and went on to serve two terms as Governor. Unander would continue to serve as State Treasurer (as he had been elected in 1952 and 1956). It is hard to determine if Hatfield and Unander were ever on the same page again. Hatfield had clearly knocked the wind out of Unanders political sails.

Wayne Morse Christmas Surprise

The year was 1959, and the Christmas season was in full swing here in Oregon. Families were gathering and preparing to celebrate the end of a busy year. President Eisenhower was entering his last year in office and candidates from all around the country had been announcing their intentions to run to replace him all year. A late entrant to the Democratic nomination came on December 22,1959 out of Oregon.

Morse Talks to Young Voters after event in Maryland

Senator Wayne Morse, a man who had been supposedly uninterested in running for President announced his candidacy. Appearing above the front page headline in the Oregonian read: "SEN. WAYNE MORSE ENTERS PRESIDENTIAL RACE". It was a Christmas surprise that some Oregon Democrats loved and other Democrats cringed at unwrapping. There were several factors that led Morse to announce and they all played a part in his campaign. Be it ego, pressure from a citizens petition drive to place him on the ballot, Jack Kennedy's unimpressive progressive credentials, a hope that Adlai Stevenson may still be willing to run at the convention and finally fears that Republicans would place him on the ballot to embarrass him for his 1962 re-election campaign.

Morse for President Bumper Sticker

A Look at Bob Straub (1954-1962)

At the recent meeting of the Oregon Political Item Conservators in Salem, Oregon author Charles Johnson shared with us some highlights of his recently completed book, Standing at the Water's Edge: Bob Straub's Battle for the Soul of Oregon  

 Members were captivated by the contrasts between Governor Tom McCall and Governor Bob Straub, who both vied for the Governor's Mansion at the same time during the 60s and early 70s. Many of the McCall environmental initiatives are owed to the work Straub did to bring those issues to the front of McCall's attention. In their attempts to one up each other, they made each other better candidates and public servants.