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  CAMPAIGN KERCHIEF MADE TO SUPPORT THE 1892 PRESIDENTIAL RUN OF BENJAMIN HARRISON AND WHITELAW REID, WITH PATRIOTIC IMAGERY AND PROTECTION TO HOME INDUSTRIES SLOGAN

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): 31.75" x 34.75"
Flag Size (H x L): 21" x 24.5"
Description....:
CAMPAIGN KERCHIEF MADE TO SUPPORT THE 1892 PRESIDENTIAL RUN OF BENJAMIN HARRISON AND WHITELAW REID, WITH PATRIOTIC IMAGERY AND PROTECTION TO HOME INDUSTRIES SLOGAN:

Patriotic kerchief from the 1892 presidential campaign of Benjamin Harrison and Whitelaw Reid, printed in red and blue on white cotton. In the center is a waving American flag, presented on a staff and canted to one side, set within the profile of a large 5-pointed star. Within the arms of the star are 13 small stars to represent the original 13 colonies, in a decorative combination of white and red. All of the above is set within a circular medallion of red, white and blue. At the top, bottom, right and left are the words "Republican" and the party's primary campaign platform: "Protection to Home Industries." America was in the midst of the industrial age and there was a great deal of public interest both in protecting growth and discouraging both imported goods and immigration. The influx of foreign workers issue wasn't a new one and a nativist agenda had been on the hotbed of political activism for approximately half a century.

Flanking in each corner is a patriotic shield with 13 stars, above which are the names of Harrison and Reid, on draping scrolls, and across which the names of the respective offices they desired. A blue border frames the perimeter.

An example of this kerchief was documented by Herbert Ridgeway Collins in his book “Threads of History: Americana Recorded on Cloth, 1775 to the Present” (1979, Smithsonian Press), item 700, p. 293. A similar example, which appears as item 701, is the same, save for the fact that the names of the candidates on the scrolls and the names of the offices are absent. Collins formerly served as the Smithsonian's Curator of Political History.

1892 marked the second year that Benjamin Harrison would seek the nation’s highest office. He was the incumbent, but he lost to Grover Cleveland on the second go-around. Cleveland, who had won in '84, but lost in '88, became the only man to serve two non-consecutive terms when he won again in '92.

At just five feet, six inches tall, Democrats called Harrison "Little Ben", but Republican supporters replied that he was big enough to wear the hat of his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States and Hero of Tippecanoe. Born in Ohio, Harrison studied law in Cincinnati before moving to Indiana, where he set up a very successful practice. During the Civil War he served his new state in command of the 70th Volunteer Infantry. He was brevetted brigadier general before the war’s end and was afterwards very active in the G.A.R and a strong proponent of veteran’s matters. He was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1881 to 1887. Harrison defeated Cleveland in 1888, in an election that focused mostly on the economics of free trade. Cleveland adhered to tradition in that year and refused to campaign as the incumbent president, a move that probably cost him the election.

Cleveland was an imposing, five-foot eleven, two-hundred-sixty-pound man who was thought of as a ‘regular Joe’. A Democrat who appealed to moderate Republicans, Cleveland had first served public office as a local sheriff, then as Mayor of Buffalo, and finally Governor of New York, before ascending to the White House.

Whitelaw Reid was a newspaper editor and politician who had an illustrious career as a diplomat. Outside the 1892 campaign, Reid served as United States Ambassador to France, then to the Court of St. John, and later to England. He was the longtime editor of the New York Tribune and close friend of 1872 Liberal Republican Party candidate for president, Horace Greeley, who both founded and owned the paper. Like Greeley, Reid was a leader of the Liberal Republican movement in 1872, the ticket of which was supported by the Democratic Party in Greeley’s run against incumbent Ulysses S. Grant. Reid’s liberal leanings helped balance the 1892 ticket against Cleveland, but not enough to score a win.

Mounting: The kerchief has been hand-stitched to 100% cotton, black in color. The black fabric was washed to reduce excess dye. An acid-free agent was added to the wash to further set the dye and the fabric was heat-treated for the same purpose. The mount was then placed in a black-painted, hand-gilded and distressed Italian molding. The glazing is U.V. protective Plexiglas.

Condition: The blue pigment has faded to a stone blue coloration. There is some minor soiling in the center. Many of my clients prefer early flags and patriotic textiles to show their age gracefully.
Collector Level: Intermediate-Level Collectors and Special Gifts
Flag Type:
Star Count:
Earliest Date of Origin: 1892
Latest Date of Origin: 1892
State/Affiliation:
War Association:
Price: SOLD
 

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