For the hardened supporters, whether taking a viewpoint to the left, right or somewhere in between, it just wouldn't be a presidential campaign without the associated red, white and blue garb touting their favorite candidate.
Think about all the material campaign items you saw when watching the democratic and republican conventions on television or reading about them in your favorite periodicals. Remember the hats, banners, posters and, most of all, campaign buttons?
This is the type of memorabilia presidential campaign collectors relish finding in wonderful condition, especially those buttons. Even folks who don't collect them can appreciate the struggle for power and history represented by a bright display of campaign buttons.
Just about any presidential button, old or new, holds some value now. It may only be a dollar or two at this point, but the collector holding the button couldn't be more pleased to have it as part of a collection.
Although campaign buttons were generally produced in mass quantities, many examples found their way to the trash heap when the presidential contest concluded. Of course, mass quantities in the early to mid-1800s when they were first used to convey partisan loyalty compare differently to the millions of buttons produced expressly for collectors today. You may have even seen news features denoting which buttons were hot with convention goers during the 2000 presidential election.
Specializing in older buttons presents more of a challenge for collectors since there are fewer on the market, but the price doesn't always rise in relation to the age of the button.
Some of the most popular buttons have sentimental value attached to them, with those produced for the Kennedy campaign being prime examples.
"A Kennedy-Humphrey button can be worth $300-$500. This outranks even Lincoln, Roosevelt and Huey Long memorabilia," said Joyce Worley, a staff writer for CollectingChannel.com in an online article.
Most of the buttons made during the last 50 or so years aren't nearly that valuable, including the more common Kennedy buttons. Many 20th century examples can be found for under $20 and even the harder to find buttons won't sell for over $100 in most markets.
So who actually collects these political representations of American culture? Actually, it's most often ordinary, everyday people who have a passion for history and a desire to preserve authentic pieces of the American political past.
And you can bet I'm using the word "authentic" for a reason. As some campaign buttons and political items increased in popularity and prices began to rise, reproductions also became an issue.
Seasoned collectors get a feel for what's genuine through learning and comparison, as with most areas of collecting. Novice collectors interested in campaign buttons usually start small and work their way up, less affected by reproductions if they concentrate on more common, inexpensive items.
Although most campaign buttons have one dimension, some of the most popular with collectors are "flasher" buttons, which generally sell for a higher price. These interesting items show one view at a certain angle and another when viewed from a slightly different point.
"A button from the 1964 campaign is a bit presumptuous in portraying Lyndon Johnson and the First Lady moving out of the White House from one angle, while from the other, Barry Goldwater and wife are moving in," notes Victor M. Gonzalez of the CollectingChannel.com staff.
Although most campaign buttons aren't quite that entertaining, they all grab and hold the collector's interest through the clever slogans and remarkable characters they portray. From "I Like Ike" to "LBJ All the Way," each button serves to remind us of a unique period in our country's history.
