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  UNUSUAL PAPER SUFFRAGE PENNANT, WITH BOLD AND WHIMSICAL, WESTERN STYLE LETTERING, circa 1915

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): 16" x 31"
Flag Size (H x L): 7" x 22"
Description....:
American Suffragette pennant, in a very rare format, with text that reads “Votes for Women,” in a combination of two bold, Western-style fonts. Made of golden yellow paper, with the lettering printed in black, the profile is an unusual one. Linear for approximately 2/5 of its length, the remainder tapers to a point.

An example in this style is documented in "The Keynoter: Journal of the American Political Items Conservators," Summer/Fall/Winter 2008 (Women's Suffrage Special Triple Issue), Volume 2008, Number 2-4, p.133. This periodical is the best printed reference that presently exists on Suffrage objects.

Golden yellow was the customary color of the suffrage movement in America, a tradition that began with the first actual campaign to give women the right to vote. This took place in 1867 in Kansas, the first state to hold a referendum on the issue when suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Stanton focused their efforts there and wore sunflowers—the state flower—in a show of support, as well as yellow ribbons. The flower was an appropriate emblem for a rising sun and growth, which led to its use in other states, and the color carried over to many other objects employed in the campaign for years to come. In England, green, white, and purple / violet were introduced in 1908 and became the colors of the movement, which gave way to a nice acronym for “Give Women the Vote.” Various groups used these colors also, in the States, sometimes substituting golden yellow for green.

Mounting: The textile was mounted and framed within our own conservation department, which is led by expert staff. We take great care in the mounting and presentation of flags and related textiles and have preserved thousands of examples.

This is a pressure mount between hemp fabric, or a hemp and cotton blend (we use both interchangeably) and U.V. protective acrylic (Plexiglas). The two-part frame consists of a very dark brown, almost black, painted molding, with a grained surface and a scooped profile, to which a black-painted, hand-gilded and distressed, Italian molding, was added as a cap.

Condition: Exceptional, with tiny stains, extremely minor fading, and a small slit along the hoist end.
Collector Level: Advanced Collectors and the Person with Everything
Flag Type:
Star Count:
Earliest Date of Origin: 1910
Latest Date of Origin: 1919
State/Affiliation:
War Association:
Price: SOLD
 

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