| 3 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS – 3 WARS: A FUN, INTERESTING, AND RARE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN POSTER FROM EITHER THE 1952 OR 1956 CAMPAIGNS OF EISENHOWER vs. ADALAI STEVENSON, OR PERHAPS THE 1960 CAMPAIGN OF NIXON vs. KENNEDY |
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| Web ID: | pat-741 |
| Available: | In Stock |
| Frame Size (H x L): | 32.75" x 26.75" |
| Flag Size (H x L): | 23.5" x 17.5" |
| Description: | |
| Extremely rare campaign poster, made for either the 1952 or 1956 presidential campaign of General & President Ike Eisenhower vs. Illinois Governor Adalai Stevenson II, or the 1960 campaign of Vice President Richard Nixon vs. U.S. Senator from Massachusetts John F. Kennedy. Unique in my experience—both the slogan and the object—the graphics consist merely of bold block letters, red on a white ground, that read: “3 Democratic Presidents – 3 Wars – Vote Republican.” A union bug in the bottom center denotes that the poster was printed with union labor in Parkersburg, West Virginia (Wood County). Located at the confluence of the Little Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, Parkersburg is along the Ohio border at a point somewhat in line with Cincinnati to its West, and Cleveland to its North, but at about the most far-flung point from each, in the extremely rural, southeast corner of that state. Far from any major city, the geography alone may explain why the verse is so unfamiliar in campaign advertising, possibly commissioned by a local buyer to just one printer. Research into the use of these words in anti-Democrat rhetoric returned scant results in political advertising. An excerpt from anonymous paid ad in the Harding County (Illinois) Independent for Oct. 30, 1952, reads: “Since 1900 we’ve had 5 Republican Presidents – no wars – no casualties, 3 Democrat Presidents – 3 wars and 1,448, 196 casualties. The casualty list, like the national debt, grows by the hour.” The only other record of it that I could locate occurred in a small scattering of opinion letters, distributed across all three of the proposed election years and just following, in 1960, before American entered Vietnam. No matter what one’s political stance might be, in the wake of WWII and Korea, with so many families affected, and with and WWI in no way forgotten, it would have been hard not to appreciate the sentiment of the seldom-used message. Because the words are so unfamiliar today, and the concept so seldom discussed, the verse definitely turns heads, as does the strong graphic presentation. The sum of these two things, plus the rarity, equals a fantastic political poster. Mounting: The poster has been mounted with an 8-ply, beveled, cotton rag mat, covered in black cotton twill. The black fabric was washed and treated for colorfastness. The mount was then placed in a two-part frame that consists of a black, shadow box-depth molding with a bow, textured surface, to which a gilded, Italian molding, with a scooped profile, was added as a liner. The glazing is U.V. protective acrylic (Plexiglas). Condition: Some edge bumps (beneath mat). |
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| Video: | |
| Collector Level: | Intermediate-Level Collectors and Special Gifts |
| Flag Type: | |
| Star Count: | |
| Earliest Date of Origin: | 1952 |
| Latest Date of Origin: | 1960 |
| State/Affiliation: | West Virginia |
| War Association: | Korean |
| Price: | Please call (717) 676-0545 or (717) 502-1281 |
| E-mail: | info@jeffbridgman.com |
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