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  PORTRAIT STYLE CAMPAIGN PARADE FLAG FROM THE 1892 PRESIDENTIAL RUN OF REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE BENJAMIN HARRISON

Available: Sold
Frame Size (H x L): 15.5" x 19"
Flag Size (H x L): 7" x 10.25"
Description....:
PORTRAIT STYLE CAMPAIGN PARADE FLAG FROM THE 1892 PRESIDENTIAL RUN OF REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE BENJAMIN HARRISON:

Printed on silk, this beautiful parade flag was embellished with a large portrait of the 1892 Republican candidate for president, Benjamin Harrison. Below this is a replication of his signature, and above is the corresponding date.

An example of this flag resides in the collection of the Smithsonian and is documented in "Threads of History: Americana Recorded on Cloth, 1775 to the Present", by Herbert Ridgeway Collins, Smithsonian Press, 1979 (item 714, p. 297). This is the best text on American political textiles. Collins formerly served as the Smithsonian's curator of political history. An example of the flag also exists in the collection of Richard Pierce and is documented in his book "The Stars & Stripes: Fabric of American Spirit", published in 2005 (p. 53).

This same style of flag was also made for the 1892 campaign of Democrat Grover Cleveland, substituting Cleveland's portrait and signature. This type of flag is documented in both the Collins and Pierce text.

These Harrison and Cleveland flags are somewhat unusual because the images are printed in the same blue ink as the cantons. Parade flags were more often overprinted with political advertising in black ink, after the flags, themselves, had already been printed.

Unlike some campaign parade flags, this particular style of 44 star flag exists without the image and text. In fact, 44 star, silk parade flags in this exact style can be found inside political and patriotic canes that come apart to reveal a hidden parade flag inside on a staff. It is also interesting to note that two other types of advertising appear on this same style of 44 star flag. Unlike the Harrison and Cleveland flags, these have the traditional, black, overprinted text. One commemorated the 100th performance of an actor by the name of John Drew. The other is an extraordinarily rare salesman's sample, made to demonstrate what kind of advertising might be done on flags. Both of these are in the collection of Richard Pierce.

Brief Summary of the 1892 Election: 1892 marked the third time that Grover Cleveland would run for president. Having won in 1884 and lost in 1888, he became the only man to serve two non-consecutive terms when he won again in 1892. He was the only president to get married in the Whitehouse. In 1886, at age 56, Cleveland married his 22-year old ward, the daughter of his former business partner, who subsequently bore him five children. 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. He was an imposing, five-foot eleven, two-hundred-sixty-pound man who was thought of as a "regular Joe".

By contrast, his Republican opponent, Benjamin Harrison, was just five feet, six inches tall. Democrats called him "Little Ben", yet 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 had defeated Cleveland in 1888, in an election that focused mostly on the economics of free trade. In that year Cleveland adhered to tradition and refused to campaign as the incumbent president, a move that may have cost him the election. In 1892, many of the same issues were popular, but this time Cleveland did campaign and won handily.

Mounting: The flag has been hand-stitched to 100% cotton rag mat and placed in a in a gilded molding that dates to the period between 1830 and 1860. Spacers keep the textiles away from the glass, which is u.v. protective.

Condition: Excellent.
Collector Level: Advanced Collectors and the Person with Everything
Flag Type: Parade flag
Star Count: 44
Earliest Date of Origin: 1892
Latest Date of Origin: 1892
State/Affiliation: Wyoming
War Association: 1866-1889 Indian Wars
Price: SOLD
 

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