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  FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT CAMPAIGN TIRE COVER WITH THE TERRIFIC SLOGAN: “A BIG MAN FOR A BIG JOB,” MADE IN 1932 FOR THE FIRST OF HIS FOUR SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS FOR THE PRESIDENCY

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): 36.5" x 37.25"
Flag Size (H x L): 28" x 29"
Description....:
Among the various forms of large scale campaign textiles, tire covers are among the most rare and unusual. Made to fit over the spare on the back of an early 20th century automobile, these wonderful relics of early political Americana are not only historically interesting, but graphically compelling. Their circular shape is alluring in a sea of rectangular objects. Only umbrellas share this trait, which are tremendous, yet difficult to display and thus less desirable.

Of the known tire covers made for any of the campaigns for which they were produced, this style is unquestionably the best. Made for the first of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s four successful presidential runs, this is the best looking and features a terrific political slogan: “A Big Man for a Big Job.”

The portrait is especially attractive. The lettering is large and graphic. Arching across the top, the tall and narrow style used to display Roosevelt’s name has a modernist sensibility characteristic of the 1920’s – 1950 era, as does the word “President,” in matching but graduated letters that fill the circular section at the bottom, below the portrait. Diagonal lines transverse the open space to the right and left, accentuating the divided phrases of the slogan.

The “Union Bug,” which denotes that the poster was printed with union labor, appears to the lower right of Roosevelt’s collar.

Construction: Oil paint on canvas, having a block-printed portrait and either stenciled or block-printed letters. The cover attaches to a tire by way of four wedge-shaped pieces of matching, black-painted canvas, stitched to the edge, each of which has an open sleeve at the end, through which lengths of hemp twine were threaded and tied.

Mounting: The textile has been hand-stitched to 100% hemp fabric. The mount was placed in a two-part frame that consists of a deep, rectangular, stain black molding with a beveled inner edge, inside which a rippled profile molding, black with gold highlights, was added as a liner. The glazing is U.V. protective Plexiglas.

Condition: There is some edge wear around the perimeter with minor associated loss. There is a small patch in the extreme upper left-hand corner, in the white border. There is minor foxing, water staining and bleeding along the perimeter.
Collector Level: Flags for the truest Patriots. My best offerings
Flag Type:
Star Count:
Earliest Date of Origin: 1932
Latest Date of Origin: 1932
State/Affiliation: New York
War Association:
Price: SOLD
 

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