The County Line
Imagine my surprise when I was asked to be a judge at the State Fair. I’ve never judged any competition in my life except maybe Halloween pumpkins, but someone thought I could be an impartial judge of political memorabilia.
I have never thought much about who judges exhibits at the fair. But, I assume that they are just plain folks who have some interest or knowledge of the items to be judged.
All I can claim is that I have collected buttons and badges since Dwight Eisenhower’s campaign for president, and have since been given ones as far back as the Roosevelt-Landon 1936 presidential campaign.
As a youngster I became enamored with Ike. I remember in 1952 my dad took me to see Ike at a campaign rally in Butler Fieldhouse. My buddies and I probably drove campaign office workers crazy that year asking for pins and buttons.
People don’t wear political buttons much anymore. Maybe it’s not considered ‘politically correct’ in mixed company. In the Eisenhower days even school kids wore ‘I Like Ike’ buttons in class. That would probably be a real no-no today.
Buttons or pins go as far back as George Washington’s time, but were not mass produced until the 1896 presidential campaign in which William McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt were candidates. They gained popularity until the 1960s.
As a Republican, can I be trusted to be fair in judging? I think so. Most collectors have items from both major parties. Judges don’t get paid. We do get four tickets to the fair which starts on August 3 and runs through August 19.
So, if you attend the State Fair this year and care anything about politics you might want to visit the displays at the Indiana Arts Building. It might be interesting, but no guarantee.