In this presidential election year, here is a popularity poll that may surprise you:
John F. Kennedy is incredibly strong, as are Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt. Richard Nixon is steadily gaining steam. Yet it would be awfully difficult to overcome the attraction of one-time Democratic presidential candidate James Cox and his running mate, Franklin D. Roosevelt.These are the current stars of campaign memorabilia, a colorful world of vintage buttons and banners that is fast gaining real financial value.
In general, the value of political items has increased more than 60 percent the past five years. Many choice examples have appreciated tenfold, though most other mass-produced selections are worth little.
It takes 20 years for value to become clear. Performance of items from within the past dozen years would, much like a penny stock, be difficult to predict.
Significance and popularity of the candidate emblazoned on the item makes a difference. No one's seeking out Thomas Dewey, Lyndon Johnson or Gary Hart buttons these days.
"I've always been interested in politics and history and first got into collecting when I picked up Nixon and McGovern buttons in 1972," said Edward Gillette, a 33-year-old attorney from Kansas City, Kan.
"Because Truman was from this area, I've collected more than 100 buttons and actually turned down an offer of $12,000 for one that had been pulled from his campaign because it didn't have the union `bug' on it."
A Cox-Roosevelt jugate (the term for a button bearing the portaits of two candidates) representing that unsuccessful 1920 ticket commands $30,000 or more because few of them were made and Roosevelt obviously went on to greater things. An 1860 Abraham Lincoln "ferrotype" photo badge goes for $600.
Oliver Stone's film "JFK" has focused even more interest on the already-popular Kennedy items, which are available from $1 to $1,000 or more. A 1956 Kennedy for vice president button has jumped to more than $850.
"Buttons are the biggest thing, with ribbons a close second and everything else from posters to coins, plaques and pens running a distant third," said Geary Vlk of Downers Grove, Ill., president of the American Political Items Collectors.
That organization, based in San Antonio, has 2,500 members. It costs $25 annually to join the APIC, P.O. Box 340339, San Antonio, TX 78234. Included in membership are discounts on collector supplies, a monthly newsletter and the calendar of up to 100 shows held annually.
"You don't have to be extremely well off for this hobby, since the items were made in vast quantities to be thrown away and many are extremely inexpensive," said David Frent, a consultant and appraiser in Oak-hurst, N.J.
"Every presidential election brings in new collectors and, when Ronald Reagan became president, it brought the presidency back in the eyes of the public and more people began focusing on previous memorabilia."
Novice collectors must keep in mind that all items are not alike.
"Button condition is everything, with mint being an absolutely perfect example with the image centered properly on it and not running off the rim," said Richard Friz, author of The Official Price Guide to Political Memorabilia, published by the House of Collectibles and distributed by Ballantine Books.
"Too often, beginning collectors bite off more than they can chew, trying to collectsomething from every campaign rather than specializing, and they also often pay too much because they didn't consult price guides."
Many collectors recommend Hake's Guide to Presidential Campaign Collectibles by Ted Hake, an illustrated price guide published by Wallace-Homestead Book Co., Radnor, Pa.
The law known as the Hobby Protection Act requires that reproductions be labeled as such and not sold as the real thing. In 1968, Amoco and Kleenex produced numerous replicas of historical buttons that unscrupulous dealers have tried to sell as the real thing.
Collecting is, apart from value, great fun. New buttons can sometimes go up in value. For example, a Cuomo for President button for the 1992 Illinois primary already commands $5.
"Pick up new buttons as they come out and hold on to them to see what happens," advised Sky King, co-owner of the Americana shop in Chicago. "We make the rounds of the various political candidates each election year."