Historical Society To Hit The Campaign Trail

The next time you become frustrated at the modern practice of saturation political ads, think back on the good old days, when campaign techniques were much more creative, offering songs, parades, graphic symbolism emblazoned on badges, buttons, and banners, as well as symbolic objects themselves.

On Monday, March 13, at 7:30 pm, in the community room of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street (Route 25), Newtown Historical Society will offer a tour of past campaigns with a slide presentation entitled “Tippecanoe and TV Too.” Dr Edmund Sullivan, a nationally known writer on political memorabilia, will present the program.

Many of our earlier campaigns were marked by bitterness, absolute lack of taste, and mudslinging that make our modern efforts look like a Sunday afternoon social. They were colorful, however, and removed from the context as we are today, we can began to appreciate the color as an exciting part of our history.

The field possibly produces more collectible items than any other. The modern campaign is usually given its roots in the successful 1840 Tippecanoe And Tyler Too, William Henry Harrison/Log Cabin effort, featuring parades, handouts, badges, banners and imagery on a scale not seen previously.

From that time to the dominance of television, virtually hundreds of items were produced by all major parties (and many minor ones) for each quadrennial election.

It is interesting to note that until after the Civil War, candidates rarely left their front porches, campaigning largely through print and image. The continuing development of the railroad system allowed candidates a personal appearance venue, and the whistle-stop campaign, offering millions a chance for a brief glimpse of the anointed leaders, was the accepted path to The White House for generations.

Television, in its turn, negated the importance of the whistle-stop, for now all the world, let alone the electorate, can watch virtually the candidate’s every move and hear every word, a fact that can sometimes lead to great trouble for the erstwhile leader. With television now dominating our lives, we have entirely new sets of images fed to us, though the dog by the fireplace is never out of place, and entirely new demands that the candidate appear well in the television medium.

Dr Sullivan will focus on the campaigns of Washington, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, offering attendees the flavor of the immense changes in campaign strategy.

“This slide lecture traces the use of Presidential campaign imagery from log cabins to television, using objects from the Museum of American Political Life at the University of Hartford,” said Dr Sullivan.

Dr. Sullivan is professor emeritus and retired director of the Museum of American Political Life at the University of Hartford. He has wide experience in the educational field at all levels, has served as a consultant to television networks and the United States Post Office, has been widely published in the field of political Americana, and is currently serving, by gubernatorial appointment, on the Connecticut State Museum Advisory Board. 

Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the program.

For further information, call the society at 426-5937.