Presidential Campaign Buttons

Thank you all for the well-wishes. The move is going pretty smoothly but I still have another week of work to do. I'll get back to regular posting soon. And I can't wait to catch up on reading all of your blogs!


Today Barak Obama will be sworn in as the president of the United States. Barak Obama has inspired a wide range of art that has been printed on posters, t-shirts, hats, and, of course, buttons. So what better day is there to write about presidential campaign buttons?

When George Washington was sworn in as president in 1789, he and some of his supporters wore buttons that said “G.W.” in the center and “Long Live the President” around the edge (shown below). Washington did not use these buttons to campaign, but the presidential candidates who followed him did.

The first campaign buttons were used in 1824 when John Quincy Adams was elected president over Andrew Jackson. The buttons were made of metal with words and pictures stamped into them. The buttons were hung from a cord and worn around the neck. Shown below is a button used by Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Notice the hole in the top.
In 1896 a new type of button was introduced. The words and pictures were printed on paper and then covered with a clear film called celluloid. You can see an example below from William Jennings Bryan who lost to William McKinley in 1896.
Candidates still used the metal buttons in 1896, though. Below is one of McKinley’s buttons from 1896.
Presidential candidates still use campaign buttons. Below is a button worn by Bill Clinton supporters in 1992.
And finally, below is a button worn by Barak Obama supporters.
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Update

I apologize for the silence around here. I'm in the process of moving and it's been fairly stressful. More art soon...

Food Art

Happy Saturday! I was playing around on the internet this morning and found something you might find interesting. Go check out this awesome art made from food!

Katie Meets the Impressionists by James Mayhew

James Mayhew’s Katie Meets the Impressionists is a nice introduction to Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas for children 4 to 6 years old.

It’s Katie’s grandmother’s birthday and Katie wants to give her grandma a gift. The two visit the museum and as Katie explores, she finds the perfect thing: a lovely bouquet of flowers. Katie closes her eyes and finds herself in Monet’s The Luncheon. She paints a picture in Monet’s studio and then picks a bunch of flowers for her grandmother.

But when Katie leaves the painting, the flowers begin to wilt. She can’t give her grandmother wilting flowers! She enters Renoir’s Girl with a Watering Can and picks new flowers but she is chased from the painting, flowers scattering into the museum. Next she finds herself in Monet’s Field of Poppies, then Renoir’s Her First Evening Out, and finally Degas’ Blue Dancers, all in search of the perfect bouquet of flowers.

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Go Gators, 2008 National Champions!