It all started back in 1968. That was the first presidential election I really focused in on. I was an 11-year-old boy at the time, and it was that year that I became thoroughly enamored with the whole
electoral process. While other kids my age were out enjoying the summer sun, I remember watching gavel-to-gavel coverage of both national nominating conventions on our black-and-white television. Later on in the fall, I began frequenting the local political campaign headquarters in my hometown. The Republican headquarters was a large storefront building, well supplied with buttons, brochures, posters, bumper stickers, and other essential campaign materials. I dropped by there several times. The young female volunteer that ran the place got so tired of seeing me. Finally,
the weekend before the election, she told me that I had come in enough and she basically invited me not to come back. But, for all my efforts—I was there every time a new shipment of campaign materials came in—I came away with several different Nixon-Agnew items which I have to this day, including—my pride and joy at the time—a full-color reflector button that alternately displays Nixon’s smiling face and the memorable slogan “Nixon’s the One!” On top of everything else, I even signed up to be a Nixon volunteer! Ironically, I wouldn’t even be old enough to vote in a presidential election until 1976! But just prior to Election Day, I received a letter from the future president himself, thanking me for my vital support. You would have thought I was a key player in Nixon's great political comeback! (All of this was pre-Watergate, of course.)
The Democrat headquarters in our town back in ’68 was run virtually out of a shoebox in the tiny front lobby of a local business establishment. (There were only a handful of Democrats in the whole county then. Not nearly enough to fill a phone booth. I’m not being critical. That’s just the way it was.) After being
interrogated—er, questioned thoroughly—by the local Democratic Party Chairman as to who my parents were and why I really wanted a Hubert H. Humphrey campaign button, I finally received from him a little star-spangled “HHH” pin, which I still have. I was grateful for it, but I never attempted to go back for more. That man just made me too nervous. I felt like I’d been to the principal’s office.
About that same time, my parents showed me an ad in a magazine wherein a political button collector was offering a special deal for anyone who wanted to get started in the hobby of collecting — 25 authentic presidential campaign buttons for just $5 (in 1968 dollars, of course). My dad ordered me a set. And that’s where it all started for me. Since then, sporadically, I have been a collector of political campaign memorabilia. In addition to visiting various campaign headquarters during election
cycles, there were always flea markets, antique stores, and
political collector conventions—yes, there are such things—not to mention the kind generosity of persons through the years who were cleaning out their attics and remembered that I had this
bizarre hobby. (Incidentally, back in the late 1960s, some kind older gentleman that I never actually met gave me some of my oldest buttons—William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan buttons from the 1896 and 1900 campaigns, as
well as an 1898 “Remember the Maine!” button, which was in reference to the sabatoge of a U.S. ship in Havana’s harbor that triggered the Spanish-American War. I also received an 1896 Joshua Levering photo button. Those of you that voted in that election will remember that the bald but mustachioed Levering was the Prohibition Party candidate for President that year. He didn’t win, by the way, in case you forgot.)
In the year 2000, my hobby took a new turn. In December of that year, Sandy and I found ourselves living in temporary housing for a few weeks, having just sold our first Florida home, while waiting to close on another. Thus, a lot of our Christmas decorations were packed away. So—with chads hanging all over Florida and the Bush-Gore presidential battle still undecided after Thanksgiving—it seemed like a novel idea that year to put up a political Christmas tree (bipartisan, of course) adorned with various buttons from my collection. That began a Davis family tradition that has continued to the present day. Since that time, we have always had a political tree in addition to our regular Christmas tree.
Along with its numerous presidential campaign buttons, our political tree is adorned with a number of other patriotic trimmings, as well as our growing collection of White House Christmas ornaments. (The White House Historical Association started issuing these ornaments on an annual basis in 1981, the year of our son Jordan’s birth, and we have all 28 of them to date.)
So, this blog is fair warning to you when you come to visit us during our Open House this Christmas. The first tree you’ll see when you enter our home will feature a whole lot more red, white & blue than it will red & green. And it won’t be adorned with traditional-looking angelic beings (unless you count the winged “Betsy Ross”-like figurine who sits at the top). Nor will it be
decorated with images of tiny elves (unless you count my Dennis “Keebler” Kucinich
buttons). Instead, you’ll see images of prominent political personalities as diverse as George Washington, George Wallace, and George W. And you’ll read colorful (if not exactly memorable) political slogans such as “The Grin Will Win!” (Jimmy Carter), “A Buck for Huck” (Mike Huckabee), and “You Go Girl!” (Sarah Palin). Not to
mention the image of a smiling Santa Claus saying “Ho! Ho! Ho! Happy Howard Days! Dean for America” (Howard Dean). So, if after this excruciatingly long 2008 presidential race you feel like you can still muster up enough strength to endure all of these Ghosts of Presidential Campaigns Past, I hope you’ll elect to come and celebrate Christmas with us presidential style.
P. S. I'm Danny Davis and I approve this message.
