Princess Grace and Prince Rainier with President Dwight D. Eisenhower at White House during visit in October 1956.
A little Thursday morning mystery …
I found this pin on the Heritage Auctions Web site with the following description:
An Unusual Circa 1896-1908 Era Political Cartoon Button.To me it looks like a donkey carrying coffins below the bluff and an ox pulling a cart with coffins above. But is “Dean” the man in both depictions? It was made in Chicago, per the back, which probably isn’t relevant. Or it could relate specifically to Chicago politics. Who knows? Not too many live volcanoes in Chicago, however.
We have never seen this design before, and frankly are at a loss to interpret it. A donkey and a cart are bearing coffins up onto a plateau, from which the cart is shown dumping a coffin into an active volcano, which spews it back out. Around the perimeter are footprints, bearing the words “Dean…burying…the…last…Democrat.” Our research failed to turn up a likely identity for Dean. Perhaps one of our readers can help explain this button, and we will be happy to add the information to the web-site description. Excellent condition. From the Norman Loewenstern Collection.
Some questions:
Why is there a volcano?
What does the snake represent?
What do the feet mean?
Could it relate somehow to the Spanish-American War and/or William McKinley?
Who was this mystery “Dean” tossing Democrats into live volcanoes at the turn of the century?!
One of the earliest photographs of the White House, 1846. Photographed by John Plumbe Jr. (Library of Congress)
In the summer of 1961, Jack displays a mystery bandage that created a minor buzz. He claimed he bumped his head picking up his children’s toys, but credible sources said it was a party-related wound.
Photographed by Jacques Lowes
While president, William Howard Taft tipped the scales at 340 pounds, which meant special accommodations sometimes needed to be made.
In January 1909, shortly after being elected, Taft was set to sail the USS North Carolina and check out the Panama Canal construction zone. To ensure that his very special passenger was comfortable, Captain W.A. Marshall wrote the Navy to request a few additional items “necessary to fit up quarters to be occupied by the President-elect,” including:
1 brass double bedstead, of extra length.
1 superior spring mattress, extra strong.
1 bath tub, 5 feet 5 inches in length, over rolled rim, and of extra width.
Photo via the National Archives, Records of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts (Navy). Background info via the National Archives’ Digital Vaults.
Theodore Roosevelt: America’s Greatest Superhero. Bully!
On May 12, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt visited San Francisco, a parade captured by cameraman H. J. Miles and later released as The President’s Carriage. In the filmed footage, Roosevelt passes on Market Street.
Bob Dylan and Jimmy Carter
