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WILLIAM McKINLEY PARADE SASH WITH “SOUND MONEY” SLOGAN, MADE TO PROMOTE HIS GOLD STANDARD PLATFORM FOR MONETARIZATION OF THE U.S. DOLLAR DURING THE 1896 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

WILLIAM McKINLEY PARADE SASH WITH “SOUND MONEY” SLOGAN, MADE TO PROMOTE HIS GOLD STANDARD PLATFORM FOR MONETARIZATION OF THE U.S. DOLLAR DURING THE 1896 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Web ID: pat-803
Available: In Stock
Frame Size (H x L): 14.5" x 55"
Flag Size (H x L): 6" x 46"
 
Description:
Yellow, canvas weight cotton sash with the words “Sound Money” printed in black Roman letters. Made for the 1896 presidential campaign of successful Republican candidate William McKinley, the iconic slogan is synonymous with the two-term President of the United States in historical reference and related objects. Its purpose was to advertise McKinley’s support of the use of gold as the standard for the American dollar, as opposed to bimetallism, with both gold and silver exchangeable for paper currency and coinage.

Because the nation fell into major economic recession in 1893, accompanied by strikes, low prices, scant profits, and high unemployment, the 1896 campaign was focused on a remedy. Democrat opponent William Jennings Bryan, a former Nebraska senator, gave a landmark speech, considered to be one of the greatest in American history, that launched the dark horse candidate to national fame. Labeled his “Cross of Gold” speech, Bryan’s words pled for bimetallism as a means to reverse the depression. Democrats would nominate him three times, all of them unsuccessful, running him again in both 1900, against McKinley as the incumbent, and then again in 1908, against William Howard Taft.

McKinley pushed through the Gold Standard Act, which became effective on March 14th, 1900. Significant reversal of the nation’s economic woes, and victory in the Spanish American War (1898) put him back in the White House in 1900. On Sept. 6th, 1901, he was shot by Leon Czolgosz, a deranged anarchist, while attending the Pan Am Exposition in Buffalo. He died there eight days later and Teddy Roosevelt, Vice President during his second term, assumed the Presidency.

Mounting: The textile was mounted and framed by us in-house. We take great care in the mounting and preservation of flags and related textiles and have preserved thousands of examples. For 25 years we have maintained our own textile conservation department, led by a master’s degree level graduate from one of the nation’s top university programs.

The sash was folded in a 3-dimentional fashion with the folds supported by archival materials. The two-part frame consists of deep, black-painted shadowbox, to accommodate the mount, to which a gilded, beveled profile molding was added as a liner. The textile was hand-stitched to a background of 100% cotton twill, black in color, that was washed and treated for colorfastness. The glazing is U.V. protective acrylic (Plexiglas).

Condition: There is some transfer of the black pigment, accompanied by minor fading and minor staining.
Video:
   
Collector Level: Advanced Collectors and the Person with Everything
Flag Type:
Star Count:
Earliest Date of Origin: 1896
Latest Date of Origin: 1896
State/Affiliation:
War Association:
Price: Please call (717) 676-0545 or (717) 502-1281
E-mail: info@jeffbridgman.com


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