Women’s Suffrage Memorabilia

While historians have long recognized the importance of memorabilia to the Woman Suffrage movement, the subject has not been explored apart from a few restricted, albeit excellent, studies. Part of the problem is that such objects are scattered about in various collections and museums and can be difficult to access. Another is that most scholars do not have ready knowledge 1of the general nature and history of the type of objects (postcards, badges, sashes, toys, ceramics, sheet music, etc.) that suffragists produced. Then-new techniques in both printing and manufacturing created numerous possibilities for supporters to develop campaigns of “visual rhetoric.” This work analyzes 70 different categories of suffrage memorabilia, while providing numerous images of relevant objects along the way and discussing these innovative production methods. Most important, this study looks at period accounts, often fascinating, of how, why when, and where the memorabilia were used in both America and England.

Kenneth Florey, professor emeritus at Southern Connecticut State University, is a long-time specialist in woman suffrage memorabilia. He has lectured on the subject in the U.S. and abroad, appeared on television, and written articles for a variety of publications. He lives in Madison, Connecticut.

Kenneth Florey
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 268
Bibliographic Info: 214 photos (49 in color), notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7293-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0150-2
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments  1
Introduction  5
The Memorabilia
Advertising Trade Cards 9
Baked Goods and Other Foodstuffs 15
Balloons 16
Ballots and Ballot Boxes 17
Banks 21
Belva Lockwood and the Equal Rights Party 21
Bicycles 29
Blotters 30
Buttons and Badges—American 31
Buttons and Badges—English 48
Calendars 56
Campaign Biographies 60
Cartes de Visite and Cabinet Photographs 61
Ceramic Figures 65
China and Dinnerware 68
Chocolates 71
Christmas Cards 71
Cigarettes and Tobacco 72
Clarion Figure 74
Clocks and Watches 76
Coffee and Tea 77
Colors 77
Cookbooks 82
Cosmetics 86
Counterstamps 86
Dust Mops 87
Eggs 87
Endorsements in Magazines 87
Face Cloth 90
Fans 90
Flyswatter 91
Garden Seeds and Sticks 92
Handkerchiefs 92
Between pages 92 and 93 are 8 color plates with 26 images
Jewelry 93
Magazine Covers and Illustrations 96
Millinery and Accessories 104
Miniature Bissell Carpet Sweepers 107
Paper Bags 107
Paper Napkins 107
Pencils 108
Pennants 109
Pennsylvania Liberty Bell Campaign 110
Pillow Tops 112
Playing Cards and Card Games 112
Postcards—American 115
Postcards—English 134
Posters—Art and Propaganda 146
Ribbons 154
Rolling Pin 159
Rubber Stamps 159
Sashes 159
Scarves 161
Sheet Music, Songsters and Records 162
Shirts and Socks 172
Soap 172
Spoons 172
Between pages 172 and 173 are 8 color plates with 23 images
Stamps, Cinderellas, Stickers and Labels 174
Stationery—Envelopes and Letterheads 178
Statues and Statuettes 181
Stove and Pie Safe 182
Suffrage Drink 182
Suffrage Shops 182
Susan B. Anthony Bas-Relief Plaster of Paris Wall Plaque 187
Tin Bird 188
Tin Thread Holder 188
Toys, Games, and Dolls 189
Train Transfers 191
Umbrellas and Parasols 192
Valentines and Penny Dreadfuls 192
Victoria Woodhull 197
Women’s Oversea Hospitals and Suffrage War Efforts 203
Notes  207
Works Cited  229
Index  233

“impressive”—Library Journal; “a well written historical narration that compelled my attention, held my interest and for me it is a work to be read and reread…fills a significant gap”—The Political Bandwagon.