Stevenson cigarettes, a Carter ashtray, 2000 Democratic Kraft Macaroni and Slick Willie golf balls are all slogan items that can be found in the “On the Campaign Trail: Politics As Usual” exhibit.
The “On the Campaign Trail: Politics As Usual” exhibit is on tour in the McNamee Gallery at Samuel Cupples House through Mar. 31, 2001. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The collection includes memorabilia from greater St. Louis resident and Saint Louis University alumnus, Chuck Harris, who has been collecting for fifty years. The exhibit on tour at SLU is only a sample of his entire collection. The memorabilia covers 200 years of campaign trail history.
The exhibit took two years to organize. Some people believe it will prove to be extremely beneficial for the community.
“I commend Saint Louis University for organizing this important exhibit. I hope it will help remind us of what our politics were once like,” Thomas F. Eagleton, former senator and current professor at Washington University, “And with campaign finance reform, it can be again.”
The candidates who ran for office had their image and party slogans on every conceivable type of object, Pamela Ambrose, Executive Director said.
This exhibit also addresses how the public images of those who ran for office were shaped through advertising before radio and television.
The material in the exhibition portrays the candidates’ personalities and political ways. The memorial shows the serious side of campaigns through social and economic issues. The exhibit starts with George Washington and continues through Gore and Bush.
According to Ambrose, “It is the earliest form of advertisement for a candidate to use to show the party platform and give the public an idea of who they physically are. The impressive and diverse material in the exhibition proves that in politics, some things never change. The social, political and economic issues addressed then are still addressed in campaigns today.”
There is also a video, “Madison Avenue goes to Washington,” which is narrated by Tim Russert, Ambrose said. The video shows how the advertisements for political candidates have changed from 1952 to the present, Ambrose added.
