Political Buttons now in Flickr Monday, April 23, 2012
Posted by capittsley in digital collections, history, Museum, updates.Tags: campaigns, Connecticut, Museum of Connecticut History, political buttons, politicians
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Just in time for the beginning of the political season here in Connecticut, the Museum of Connecticut History is proud to bring you the buttons of political campaigns past. This collection of nearly 1,000 Connecticut political campaign buttons were donated by Mr. James Cassidy of Greenwich and can be found on our Flickr page.
Gubernatorial campaign buttons for Wilbur L. Cross and opponent Arthur M. Brown. Cross was governor of Connecticut from 1931-1939.
Included in the collection are buttons from campaigns for Governor, Lieutenant Governor (until 1966 the Governor and Lieutenant Governor were elected separately), Treasurer, Secretary of the State, Attorney General and Comptroller. In addition there are buttons from races for U.S. Senator and Representative as well as examples of materials from local political campaigns. Winners and losers are both represented. The Museum has a sizable collection of Connecticut political memorabilia and there is some duplication in the new acquisition, but examples of buttons not previously in the collection far outnumber the duplicates. Connecticut political history is one of the Museum‘s three primary collecting areas, the others being military and industrial history. Of the three, political history is the hardest to illustrate, and artifacts such as campaign buttons, bumper stickers, lawn signs and similar materials are significant ways of linking abstract political ideas to the politicians who espouse them.
