If you love to collect mid century ephemera and have an interest in politics or political history, you can collect election memorabilia. Presidential campaigns in particular came with a bevy of campaign paraphernalia such as bins, bumper stickers, cups, handkerchiefs, you name it!
How to Start Collecting Election Memorabilia
If you’re interested in collecting election memorabilia, keep your eye on auction sites, or you may happen upon a find at an estate sale, flea market or thrift store. Keep in mind that often condition matters. If something is in mint condition or is more rare, it will likely fetch a higher price.
If your collecting interest is specific, you might consider advertising in online forums or newspapers for what you are looking for. For more ideas on what to consider in terms of finding the memorabilia and assessing its value, visit Political Items Collectors Association for more resources.
Whether or not you want to start collecting election memorabilia, read on to enjoy the retro designs of these samples we gathered from every presidential election from 1952-1976 with a bit of context as to who was in the election and how it unfolded.
1952 & 1956
The multi-lingual “I Like Ike” tie put Eisenhower’s catchy slogan to fashionable use. Women were not excluded! See below!
A women’s veil bore the Eisenhower slogan. Times have changed!
The WWII general won in a landslide victory in 1952. Despite the president’s health challenges including a heart attack and abdominal surgery, Eisenhower sought and won re-election in 1956. For both terms, his Vice President was Richard Nixon.
1960
The 1960 election was a close contest between Democratic senator John F. Kennedy and Republican Vice President Richard Nixon. The race and results were very close, and perhaps one of Kennedy’s biggest obstacles was his Catholicism. In his campaign, he assured voters that his Catholicism would not deter him from being a capable president. With his victory, he became the youngest president, the first Catholic president as well as the first president born in the 20th century.
1964
JFK’s Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson had taken the helm in 1963 after the president’s assassination. The election followed closely on the heels of these events, and the Republican nominee, Barry Goldwater was not able to compete with LBJ. It was a landslide victory for LBJ with 61 percent of the popular vote and a whooping 486 electoral votes for LBJ as opposed to Goldwater’s 52.
1968 & 1972
The presidential election of 1968 came in a tumultuous year, and it was particularly tumultuous for the Democratic party: President Lyndon B. Johnson’s popularity had plummeted due to the rising death tolls in the Vietnam War, and he decided not to seek re-election. Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy (not to be confused with Sen. Joseph McCarthy) decided to run, but so did Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated after a victory in the California primary. This was also the year Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, and discouragement, anger and some chaos resulted in its wake, including in the Democratic Convention. The Democratic candidate ended up being Hubert Humphrey. Meanwhile, the Republican Convention was without incident, and the way was clear for Richard Nixon to try again after losing to JFK eight years prior. In 1972, Nixon was re-elected to a second term with a huge margin: Nixon gained 520 electoral votes in contrast to Democratic candidate George McGovern’s 17.
1976
With the revelation of the Watergate scandal in 1972, Nixon became the first president to resign, and his Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as president. In the 1976 election, roles were reversed from the 1968 elections—the Democratic Convention and party as a whole was fairly quickly a united front around nominee Jimmy Carter while the Republican party was reeling and plagued by the Watergate scandal as well as an internal contest between Ford and Reagan. Ford gained the Republican nomination, but it was a close contest. Carter’s emphasis on integrity was a welcome change from the suspicion and scandal of Watergate, and he won.
It may be tempting to think times were simpler then. Looking back at the mid century elections, however, remind us times were not simple then, either with Cold War scares, Vietnam War and its protests, JFK’s assassination, the Civil Rights Movement and its resistance, recession, Watergate. We are simply removed from the tumult and know the outcome of the past elections. But while we feel the stressors and challenges more keenly here in the present, this election isn’t over! Please remember to go and vote! Find out more by vote.org to see your state’s deadlines for voter registration.
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