|
 |
|
|
|
|
By
Ray Farina
Most collectors of 19th century political memorabilia
and historians acquainted with American political campaign history
are aware of the 1860 political marching club known as the Wide
Awakes. We are familiar with the basic tenets by which they
operated. For instance, the Wide Awakes was a Republican derived
paramilitary marching club supporting Abraham Lincoln and all
Republican candidates in their districts. The Wide Awakes were
comprised of young white men ranging in age from their teens to
their thirties, who by embracing new political attitudes sought to
attract younger and ambitious participants looking to proclaim
themselves as the voices of the younger voter. Many of us also know
that their structured highly competitive military style was
comprised of officers and soldiers holding military ranks and
engaged in specific duties, among which was to protect Republican
Party speakers in hostile Democratic-friendly towns and cities.
Also, the Wide Awakes were visibly present at the polls to ensure
protection and peaceful engagement of the general public
participating in the voting process.
Beyond these commonly acknowledged understandings not much is
generally discussed respective to the significant social and
cultural impacts of the Wide Awakes. There is much more to their
story!
Most of the “soldiers” comprising the Wide Awakes were born between
the administrations of John Quincy Adams and William Henry
Harrison. They came of age during the bitter tensions of
sectionalism. Some were old enough to participate in the Mexican
War, they saw divisiveness result from the Compromise of 1850, and
conflict from the Kansas-Nebraska Act. They realized that their
political system was failing them and it did not help that the
country was losing its greatest elder statesmen. The Wide Awakes
saw their mission to take up the mantle and continue the good works
of these prominent politicians and visionaries like Daniel Webster
and Henry Clay. Their “eyes were wide open” to the need for change,
and to right the political wrongs of the past. They adopted the
“all-seeing-eye” as their symbol for a new awakening of political
philosophy and direction.
The
young and aggressive militarism of the Wide Awakes was not lost on
the South in 1860. The fierce appearance of these young
northerners, many with beards and goatees, dressed in uniforms with
military caps and black capes, carrying torches, painted wood axes,
and marching in the middle of the night terrified southerners who
saw their tactics as an ominous signal of what may lie in store for
them from this new radical Republican Party and their anti-southern
attitudes.
The Wide Awakes, though its beginnings were rooted in Connecticut,
quickly proliferated throughout the country from Maine, Vermont,
New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and New
Hampshire westward to Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and other
parts of the Midwest thus becoming a national organization. Using
popular social events as opportunities to expand their ranks they
appealed to those seeking the camaraderie of a fraternal
organization, and even had comic books to promote themselves! The
illustrated pamphlet, “Pipps Among the Wide Awakes” was a
deliberate appeal to young voters to join up. Twenty-one-year-old
Pipps grows a moustache and declares his independence from parental
controls and their old-fashioned political ideals. Vowing to cast
his first vote for Lincoln and exercise his freedoms he declares
himself a “Man of the World and a Politician.” Pipps decides that
participating in a political campaign is the most important thing a
man can do to affirm his masculinity and maturity! Pipps’ story had
a definite appeal to young northerners who truly believed they
represented a new generation of astute, politically-minded men no
longer chained to the indoctrinations of past party politics or
generational beliefs. The Wide Awakes enabled this transformation.
Their use of militarism for political purposes was crafty but
dangerous and although Captains in the organization used friendly
rivalries as a means of engaging and motivating various units
around the country, the Wide Awakes maintained a martial
seriousness to their mission that separated them from other
political clubs of the day.
Bloodshed and violence were also an unintentional (perhaps)
consequence of the Wide Awakes style of political expression.
Repercussions from the Democratic opposition often resulted in
heated exchanges of brutal attacks with stones, bricks, and even
torches used as weapons. People got hurt. Generally speaking when
these fights broke out the Wide Awakes never fought like a military
unit, they broke ranks and fought individually against their
opponents. One New York Company of Wide Awakes when asked about
their brutal brawls complained the torch handles made from pine
tended to splinter “after just a few blows to the head.” Things
were far worse out in the Midwest where these vicious encounters
often resulted in gunfire and stabbings.
The irony resulting from the Wide Awakes militaristic approach and
their constant insistence that they were peaceful and
well-intentioned was often questioned by those who believed that if
you dress and act like a military unit how can you expect anyone to
consider your intentions as non-violent? South of the Mason-Dixon
line Democratic politicians were convinced that the Wide Awakes
were cultivating an army that would at some point advance upon them
prepared for war.
Despite the fear and loathing generated by the Wide Awakes among
southern factions, they were endeared to and appreciated by
northern supporters and especially by the ladies! Their efficiency
in performing intricate drills during parades along with their
handsome uniforms made for a compelling presentation that any
ardent female Republican supporter could admire and take pride in.
One Wide Awake diarist in Ohio noted, “The ladies, bless them,
stayed and cheered us with their presence till we were through, and
they were as good looking a company of women as one will see.”
At the height of their ranks the Wide Awakes were comprised of
perhaps 100,000 youth in number, maybe slightly more. Some say it
was exponentially higher but there is little to prove that
assertion. One thing is clear however, the Wide awakes had a
significant impact on the generational and cultural changes that
dominated politics and social intercourse in 1860 and beyond. Not
to mention the benefits that were provided to the newly formed
Republican Party and particularly the political campaign of Lincoln
and Hamlin! One last sobering thought to reflect upon is, intended
or not, the exemplification of the Wide Awakes presented an
apparitional foreshadowing of the dark and bloody days to come.
Back to Top
|
|
Political Cartoons in the United
States |
|
By Curtis Lindner
When
one hears the word “cartoon” most think of the Saturday morning
shows we all watched (if you’re my age) as a child. But in the
world of political collecting, what comes to mind is much
different. It is thought that Benjamin Franklin published and
created the first political cartoon in his newspaper the
Pennsylvania Gazette, which he acquired in 1729. In May of
1754, he published the cartoon “Join or Die,” which promoted the
idea of “Union”. The cartoon pictured pieces of a snake’s body,
which was being compared to the colonies in the fledging country.
Many know this famous rendering, which has been used and reprinted
throughout the history of the United States.
Today collecting political cartoons
has become very popular, especially examples published by Currier &
Ives from the mid-19th century. Some of the more popular candidates
included Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison and John Quincy
Adams. Cartoons from the 1860 and 1864 campaigns featuring Abraham
Lincoln have really taken off with popularity, likely due to the
political issues that were facing the country at that time. These
cartoons pictured the candidates, usually containing issues from
their campaign platforms….some anti and some pro. Many were
satirical in nature, and all are fascinating to view and read.
As mentioned in the previous paragraph the majority of cartoons are
theme based, and feature issues pertaining to the current
presidential race. One of my favorites is from the 1860 campaign,
and is titled “The National Game. Three “Outs” and One “Run”.
Abraham Winning the Ball”. The four presidential candidates are
portrayed, each wearing a belt with the name of his respective team
(political party) and each carrying a bat indicating his political
program or platform. Lincoln seems to be on the verge of winning
the contest as he stands on "Home Base" and dispenses advice to his
losing opponents on how to succeed in this game. Many baseball
metaphors are utilized in the balloon captions. My favorite is
Douglas's comment to Bell: "That's because he had that confounded
rail to strike with. I thought our fusion would be a 'short stop'
to his career." The game of baseball was fairly new, and using that
theme in a political cartoon makes this especially desirable, plus
the piece is hand colored, which is rarely encountered.
Another fantastic example comes from the 1836 presidential contest,
which is titled “Political race Course – Union Track – Fall Races
1836”. It shows the four candidates of 1836 as race horses, with
the heads of William Henry Harrison, Martin Van Buren, Daniel
Webster and Hugh White. A frontiersman rides the Harrison horse who
is in the lead and appears heading for victory. Jackson rides the
Van Buren steed. The jockeys make pithy comments on the progress of
the race, the qualities (or lack thereof) of their mounts and their
prospects for winning the race. Very little in the way of campaign
material was issued in the election of 1836. Again, a rare example,
this cartoon is printed in color.
Another favorite of mine is based on the Union versus the
Confederacy picturing Abraham Lincoln fighting Jefferson Davis
titled “Caving In, Or A Rebel “Deeply Humiliated”. Likely published
in 1862, Abraham Lincoln is seen getting the best of Jefferson
Davis in this boxing match. Old Abe has delivered several blows to
Davis landing many punches judged by the confederate losses listed
about Davis' head and shoulders. Lincoln is shown having taken hits
at Bull Run and the Battle of Big Bethel, both in 1861. Foreign
dignitaries look on in wonderment, speculating as to results of the
Civil War. This cartoon is rich with the goings on in the early
days of the Civil War.
This is just a small representation of the many varieties of
political drawing and cartoons that were published during the
19th Century. Moreover, artists have continued to
express and publish their political opinions in this amusing and
interesting format even to this day. Those who are already
collecting political cartoons, or have an interest in assembling a
collection, will certainly have a wide variety to choose from. It’s
no wonder that hobby engagement remains high in this educational
and a fun segment of political campaign collecting. Happy
Hunting!
Back to Top
|
|
By Laurel Witt
Perhaps
you’ve heard of palm reading, but what about skull reading? Though
now considered a pseudoscience, phrenology, the practice of
correlating one’s character with the physical aspects of one’s
cranium, was particularly influential during the nineteenth
century. Originally developed in Europe by Franz Joseph Gall, it
was believed that the brain’s form was revealed through the skull’s
particular shape. A personal profile of temperaments, strengths,
and weaknesses could be revealed by studying and measuring its
features. Different regions of the skull bore designated traits, so
depending on the bump's placement, one's head could determine
anything from one's self-esteem to personal desires.
Johann Spurzheim and brothers George and Andrew Combe would help
further the research of phrenology and bring it to the United
States. It was specifically George Combe’s work, Constitution
of Man, that inspired American brothers Orson and Lorenzo
Fowler to not only begin publishing the American Phrenological
Journal but to “read” thousands of heads, including those of
famous personalities, including Mark Twain and Clara Barton. A
scathing political cartoon available in our DeWitt sale published
by H.R. Robinson features Orson S. Fowler, measuring the head of
Zachary Taylor with a caliper and declaring him “incompetent.” A
poster behind Fowler to the left advertises “Fowler & Wells,”
referencing Samuel R. Wells, who later joined the brothers, forming
the publishing house of Fowler and Wells.
Fowler and Wells often utilized engraved images to provide insight
into an individual’s personality by including a reading of facial
features. Arguably, this very concept may have assisted Abraham
Lincoln in his campaign for the 1864 presidency due to the massive
number of photographs printed and sold to the public featuring his
portrait. According to Fowler and Well’s brand of phrenology,
anyone with a picture of Lincoln could glimpse into the core of his
very character, meaning potential voters could share a more
intimate bond with the presidential candidate.
In the fortieth volume (number four and whole number 310) of the
American Phrenological Journal and Life Illustrated, also
available in the upcoming DeWitt sale, a nice-sized image of
Abraham Lincoln appears on the cover. His portrait is accompanied
by an assessment of his phrenological character gained by “our
portrait of Mr. Lincoln…from a recent photograph by Brady..." The
article includes descriptions of his facial features and addresses
different regions of his skull. Whereas his lips indicated
“affection, wit, and playfulness…,” the largest of the “perceptive
faculties” seen in his forehead are Individuality, Form, Size,
Order, Eventuality, and Locality. Overall—a very flattering
reading!
Though phrenology’s popularity significantly waned by the end of
the nineteenth century, there are modern imitations of the
graphically interesting paraphernalia, particularly the busts that
could range from a plain ceramic glaze to colorfully painted and
even gilded. Other collectibles include phrenological journals,
craniometers, charts, cartoons, and more—it’s only appropriate to
assume a display of this “caliper” would yield the most
character.
Back to Top
|
|
Upcoming Auction Highlights |
|
Paintings by Onderdonk and Salinas, Sculptures by Umlauf
Lead Heritage's October Texas Art Auction
There are two things to keep in mind while pondering the term
"Texas Art." One is that Texas art encompasses so many decades,
sensibilities and mediums that it's impossible to reduce it to
"Western" themes. The second thing to remember, conversely, is that
sometimes Texas art indeed evokes subjects and themes that are
quintessentially Texan or Western. This dichotomy is the beauty of
a category that's both sweeping and intimate for followers of Texas
art: Texas-based artists are never limited by geography, but they
don't necessarily attempt to dodge it, either.
In this respect, Heritage's upcoming Texas Art Signature®
Auction feels something like a homecoming. This is a return to
familiar names and subjects that have lit up this category since
the early 1900s, when Julian Onderdonk pitched his plein
air easel out in Texas Hill Country to apply a bit of
Impressionism's light play to the region's bluebonnets. Onderdonk and his
father Robert Jenkins
Onderdonk both have works in this auction: Julian's signature
bluebonnets are well represented here by several outstanding
paintings, including Spring
Twilightfrom 1917; Robert's oil painting Shore to
Shore is taken from a steel engraving printed by Clarence
M. Dobell in the 1870s.
In fact, after several years of the uncertainty brought by the
pandemic, this auction feels like a return to "normal" for Texas
art. What has been lost these last few years, and what can we
rediscover by returning to the work of our beloved mainstays:
Umlauf, Salinas, the Onderdonk family,
Alexandre Hogue,
Dickson Reeder,
George Grammer… we
embrace these names and their works because they've captured
something timeless and crucial about our place on this land. We
yearn for the permanence that even contemporary Texas artists like
David Bates and
Benito Huerta find in
their explorations of this frontier and its inhabitants.
Read the full press release here.
More information about American, Texas, Western, California
Art.
Back to
Top
In Heritage's Harlan Ellison Auction, Original Art From
Some of the Author's Most Famous Works and the World's Most
(In)famous 'Star Trek' Photo
Upon Harlan Ellison's death in June 2018 at the age of 84, The New York
Times described him as "a furiously prolific and
cantankerous writer whose science fiction and fantasy stories
reflected a personality so intense that they often read as if he
were punching his manual typewriter keys with his fists." The
tagline for the 2008 documentary about Ellison, Dreams with
Sharp Teeth, described him as "Genius. Monster. Legend."
Ellison — author of classics, collector of awards, reviewer of
films and comics and television shows, maker of trouble — did
nothing to disabuse fans and followers of his reputation. In
the introduction to the first
episode of his short-form Harlan Ellison's Watching,
made in the mid-1990s for the Sci-Fi Channel, he said that if you
call him a writer of science fiction, "I'll come to your house, and
I'll nail your pet's head to a coffee table. I'll hit you so hard
your ancestors will die. I'll hit you so hard your grandmother will
bleed. I'm a writer. There's no adjective in front of it. I'm just
a writer."
Ellison was many things, but he was hardly just a writer, just as
Frank Sinatra wasn't just a singer or Albert Einstein wasn't just a
guy who was good at math. He counted among his thousands of short
stories, teleplays (for The Outer Limits and The
Twilight Zone, among others), screenplays, books, essays,
reviews and comic-book stories some of the most enlightening,
terrifying and thrilling speculative fiction ever written.
Speculative because he hated "science fiction."
Read the full press release here.
More information about Comics, Comic Art &
Animation Art Auctions.
Back to
Top
1821 Half Eagle Soars to $4.6 Million, Leading First Bass
Collection Auction to $20.5 Million at Heritage
Auctions
A magnificent 1821 half eagle rode a burst of furiously competitive
bidding all the way to $4.62 million, leading one of the finest
collections of U.S. gold coins and related patterns ever assembled
to $20,459,645 in Heritage Auctions' Harry W. Bass Jr. Core
Collection Part I US Coins Signature® Auction - Long
Beach Sept. 29.
Proceeds from the auction will benefit the dozens of Dallas-based
nonprofits supported by the Harry W. Bass Jr. Foundation, with a
particular emphasis on early childhood education and literacy in
Dallas.
"The Bass Trustees are thrilled with the results and grateful to
the Heritage Auctions team for its outstanding execution of this
sale" said David Calhoun, executive director of the Harry Bass
Foundation. "It was an exciting event that far exceeded our
expectation." Many lots in the auction set new auction records,
including:
The 1821 Capped Head Left
Five, PR65 Cameo: $4,620,000 (previous record: $198,000)
An 1854 Gold Dollar, PR65
Deep Cameo: $720,000 (previous record: $68,750)
An 1833 Quarter Eagle, PR63
Cameo: $408,000 (previous record: $50,600)
An 1860-S Three Dollar Gold,
MS64: $360,000 (previous record: $37,600)
An 1855-S Three Dollar, MS64:
$264,000 (previous record: $64,625)
The event generated perfect sell-through rates of 100% by value and
by lots sold. The lineage of many of the coins in this auction can
be traced to the heralded auction of Louis E. Eliasberg Sr.'s gold
coin collection in 1982.
Read the full press release here.
More information about Rare Coin
Auctions.
Back to
Top
|
|
Is It Time To Sell? - Consign Now! |
|
Interested in Selling Rare Americana
and Political Collectibles?
We are currently welcoming consignments for our upcoming Americana
Signature® auction. Heritage is the world’s largest collectibles
auctioneer, with over $1.4 billion in sales last year alone. We
look forward to working with you to showcase your items at one of
our prestigious Signature auction events.
Generous Cash Advances Available
We offer generous cash advances for qualifying consignments and are
available nearly as soon as we receive your items. To support our
growing sales volume, we also purchase a few duplicates, or even
whole collections. Heritage purchases $2 million to $5 million in
collectibles every week, and more when we can. We are committed to
paying fair and competitive prices to acquire the material we need
to meet demand from our customers. Your information will remain
confidential.
Please contact one of our Americana and Political Specialists
today:
|
Curtis Lindner
Consignment Director,
Americana & Political
CurtisL@HA.com
800-872-6467 ext.
1352
|
|
|
Ray Farina
Consignment Director
RayF@HA.com
800-872-6467 ext.
1135
|
|
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
