Existing comment:
Campaign Pins
In the second half of the twentieth century, pinback buttons featuring small portraits of first ladies became popular and were typically accompanied by affirmative phrases, such as "We Want Mamie" or "Fly with Ladybird." Historically, this form of publicity had been reserved for the likenesses of presidential candidates. The wearable mini portraits shown here, therefore, hint at the increased responsibility of first ladies in modern presidential campaigns.
Campaign buttons with portraits have allowed voters to express a political preference without saying a word since the nineteenth century. In 1860, when photography was still a new medium, supporters of Abraham Lincoln pinned inexpensive "tintype" portraits of him to their clothing. But it was the advent of celluloid that made possible the mass-production of campaign buttons around the turn of the century. Over the following decades, they became essential presidential campaign paraphernalia, reaching their zenith in the 1970s and 1980s.
All: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution |