Mid-20th Century US Political Ephemera

This collection contains political ephemera from a wide variety of publishers. Some of the earliest material is produced by the American government in order to sell war bonds, encourage tax filing, and, later, to recruit soldiers to the Vietnam war. The collection also contains a map distributed by the United Nations tracking their activities in 1949. There are multiple political cartoons: one is conservative and anti-communist, while several others attributed to Shoemaker and distributed by Appreciate America, Inc. are more liberal and encourage mutual respect and racial tolerance. Several of the papers are distributed in part as advertisements: the “Patriotic Panorama” map is by Albert Richard, a sportswear company, and the “1960 Presidential Election Folder” was created by the shoe brand Keds. While some of the material is partisan, such as the Kennedy and Humphrey/Muskie campaign posters, several of the posters are more general. The Keds election folder explains the electoral college system and provides a grid for tracking electoral votes. There is a poster specifically for educational purposes that shows past presidents of the United States and their parties, as well as explaining the inner workings of presidential campaigns.