From torches to T-shirts

Have you ever thought about bringing an 8-foot-tall burning torch to a political rally? What about drinking John McCain-brand juice? Want to make a phone call using a George H.W. Bush phone cord?

Those gestures may sound creepy or silly today, but burning torches were one of the first examples of American campaign memorabilia in the 1800s. And presidential nominees in the 1960s had their names emblazoned on juice cans, including Barry Goldwater's "gold water" - "The right drink for the conservative taste."

It wasn't all witch-hunting and thirst-quenching: there was plenty of potty humor, too. In fact, early American campaign memorabilia makes today's wry slogans on T-shirts look tame.

Some trinkets were signs of the times never to be seen again, like the McKinley parasol, the Eisenhower cigarette pack and the Kennedy paper dress.

Odessa's Presidential Museum features items like the aforementioned phone cord, as well as campaign memorabilia dating all the way back to the days of George Washington. It's also got straight razors sporting the image of James Buchanan, which had a mother-of-pearl handle and an image of Buchanan himself on the razor. Years later, Woodrow Wilson also gave emblazoned straight razors to support his campaign.

Other campaign paraphernalia has evolved. The political button may have gotten its start as coat buttons like the ones made to commemorate Washington's inauguration in 1789, said Sara Henry, deputy director and chief curator of the Museum of the City of New York.

"This brass button says ‘Long live the president,' and this one has his initials in the middle," she said, pointing to the encased artifacts. The buttons are part of the exhibit "Campaigning for President: New York and the American Election," which is open at the museum through Election Day.

It wasn't until the middle of the 19th century when all white men got the vote - as opposed to just land owners - that political parties really used memorabilia to "sell" candidates to the masses, Henry said.

Tall torches adorned with photos of candidates were passed out during rallies and parades to light the dark streets. Paper lanterns decorated with a candidate's picture, a rare item because most burned, were also used for campaigning.

William Henry Harrison, elected in 1840, is said to be the first candidate to actively campaign for president, said Larry Bird, curator of the Division of Politics and Reform at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. In addition to torch poles topped with his signature log cabin, the campaign made domestic items such as women's brushes and sewing boxes.

There was plenty of negative campaigning, too. One of the earliest examples at the New York exhibit is the Grover Cleveland and Allen Thurman chamber pot from 1888. Then there are the William McKinley pigs. Playing on the phrase, "In a pig's ass, I'd vote for McKinley," the little pigs have a hole at the rear that you can look through and see a picture of McKinley.

More recent buttons - still ribald - feature a jock strap with the words "support Bush" underneath.

"You do see a lot of potty humor in American politics," Henry said. "We haven't included a lot of it in the exhibit because much of it is just so juvenile."

Some beyond bawdy and just tacky instead. Lettie England, Odessa Presidential Museum administrator, said one campaign picture she saw read, "J.C. can save America," with Jimmy Carter wearing a beard and robe similar to Jesus Christ.

William Jennings Bryan, a candidate known for his long speeches, was frequently represented by a coffin along with the phrase, "Talked to death." And then there's the McKinley doll. The porcelain and cloth doll, when held upright, is McKinley. When turned upside down, it's an African-American baby, referring to the accusation he fathered an illegitimate black child.

In 1944, a poster impugned vice presidential candidate Harry Truman by drawing him in a Ku Klux Klan outfit. More functional items are the Reagan slippers, the comb to "Comb Nixon out of your hair" and the John Kerry flip-flops.

The post-World War II era was the heyday of memorabilia, Bird said. "I like Ike" nylon stockings were created at a time when women started to expose more of their legs. And as technology advanced, so did the political button, which started off as a lithograph printed directly on metal, said Mort Berkowitz, who has thousands of buttons going back to the 1800s and is also known as "the Button Man."

Buttons from the Eisenhower and the Kennedy campaigns feature holograms, where the buttons feature two pictures that interchange as the button changes position in relation to the viewer's eye.

"Campaign buttons tell a story," Lettie England, Odessa Presidential Museum administrator, said. England said the museum owns almost 6,000 political buttons - most aren't even showcased.

But just looking at the buttons in the showing room can be a trip through time and culture. The campaign and political memorabilia weave through the Odessa showroom, giving museum patrons the chance to see how campaign memorabilia has really evolved - from the smallest badges of the first presidential candidates to larger buttons featuring the candidates' own photographs bordered by strips of red, white and blue.

In the '60s came the quirky juices like Goldwater's and the Lyndon Johnson juice can - "A drink for health care."

"It was political but also social," Bird said. "That's what's changed."

When campaigning on television became standard, the focus began to shift. Buttons got bigger, presumably to play to the TV cameras. Candidates spent more money on commercials than tchotchkes.

Bird recalls being unable to get a button at the New Hampshire campaign office for Democratic candidate Paul Simon in 1988, though he could watch a video of the candidate's biography.

"If I'm a candidate, I'd rather have a million people wearing my button than I would have someone just watch my television commercial," he said.

And in today's youth culture, candidates are focusing less on traditional campaign methods and looking to new media, England said.

"Both Hillary and Obama have played to the young with T-shirts, mugs and baseball caps," England said. In addition to that, the candidates are increasingly more aware of the Internet as a form of communication.

"I think probably what's different is the use of the Internet more for messaging and campaigning," England said.

At Odessa's Presidential Museum, a Campaign 2008 exhibit will be opened in late September, showing memorabilia from earlier in the presidential race to recent acquisitions from the upcoming Democratic and Republican conventions.

It's impossible to know which products from today's campaigns will be collector's items, though we may go ahead and decide that the Barack Obama thong was a bad idea. But Bird said despite all the changes, the underlying purpose always remains the same: to feel a part of it all.

"There's a need for people who want to participate to have material with which to express themselves," Bird said.

OA staff writer Lyxan Toledanes and The Associated Press contributed to this report.