Political Mechanical Advertising Card
Here’s a #tinytuesday in honor of Voter Registration Day!
This fascinating little piece is a political mechanical advertising trade card from 1880. The card consists of two pieces of card stock, which are connected by a metal rivet. The bottom card features two images of presidential candidates James Abram Garfield (1831 – 1881) and Winfield Scott Hancock (1824 – 1886). The holder of the card could spin the bottom to show the image of whichever President they preferred.
This card was copyrighted and published by A. Thompson of Boston, MA and could be customized with advertisements for various stores. In this case, the card was printed for J.H. Earle, a haberdashery, and J.B. French & Sons, a shoe store; both were prominent in Fall River during this period.
But this card served a dual purpose as a political advertisement as well.
James A. Garfield was the Republican candidate in the Election of 1880. Garfield had been an Ohio Senator until he joined the Union Army in 1861. He later won a seat in Congress, where he was an ardent supporter of abolition and black suffrage. In the Election of 1880, Garfield faced off against Winfield Scott Hancock, the Democratic nominee. Hancock had served as a Lieutenant during the Mexican American War and was a Union General during the Civil War. Ultimately, Garfield was elected 20th President of the United States in 1880, and he was inaugurated in March 1881.
Just five months later, in August 1881, Garfield was shot by disgruntled attorney and “office seeker” Charles Julius Guiteau (1841-1882) while waiting at a train station. Due to unhygienic medical practices of the time, James A. Garfield died from his injuries several weeks later; he was the second President assassinated while in office.