Hervey A. Priddy Collection of American Presidential and Political Memorabilia

About the Collection

Hervey A. Priddy began collecting presidential campaign memorabilia in the 1980s shortly after auditing a course at SMU on 20th-century U.S. presidential politics. The resulting Hervey A. Priddy Collection of American Presidential and Political Memorabilia includes the Official Inaugural Medals for every president from 1897-2017, as well as a variety of textiles, ceramics, numismatics, buttons, printed works, and other campaign commemoratives from the early 19th century to the early 21st century. Over 200 years of political history are represented in these cultural artifacts of U.S. campaigns, candidates, issues, and elections.

Of particular note are the brass encased ferrotypes from 1860 and 1864. These 19th-century campaign lapel devices were usually about one inch in diameter, encased in brass, and punched with a hole so they could be suspended from the lapel. The ferrotypes featured the presidential nominee’s image on one side and the vice-presidential nominee’s image on the other side, familiarizing distant voters with the candidates’ names and faces.

[Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson Inaugural Ball Invitation, 1865]

[James Garfield Nose Thumber Charm], 1880

[Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge Campaign Window Decal], 1920