Evening journal., 1912-08-10
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Campaign Nickname
That Proved a BOOM
erang to Its Maker
By Holland

] told yesterday Of the success
which attended an attempt Of Charles
Foster, Secretary of the Treasury, in
the administration of President Ben
jamin Harrison, to market United
States bonds bearing a rate Of inter-
est of two per cent. Il was the low
est interest rate carried by any OBJ
legation issued by any government,
at least in modern times. The late
Frederick d. Tappan, for many years
an influential banker Of New York,
declared to me that this was an
achievement which ought TO place
Governor Foster in the list of the
greatest secretaries Of the treasury.
Governor Foster, twelve years ear
lier, was a candidate for governor Of
Ohio. The Republican party named
him as its candidate. He had al
ready served several terms in Con-
gress He was a country storekeep-
er when he began his active life. and
II was as a country storekeeper in
northwestern Ohio that he gained a
wide acquaintance and secured many
friendships among the farmers OF
that section. He was an expert judge
Of calico goods. He frequently visit
ed New York for the purpose of buy
ing calicoes of the kind that we're
popular with the farming people who
lived in the vicinity of his store.
In the gubernatorial campaign Of
1879 somebody who was speaking
against Fosters candidacy referred
to Foster as a country storekeeper
and paid especial attention to~his ex-
pert Judgment respecting calico
goods. This campaigner,. on the spur
of the moment gave TO Foster a nick
name, Calico Charlie"
It was at first thought that the
nickname would subject Foster to
such statewide ridicule as would
make his campaign for the governor
ship failure. But Foster was wiser
than the campaigner who had thus
nicknamed him. Mary Hanna used to
tell the story, practically in these
words:
Some OF the Republican cam
paign leaders went to Foster and
asked him what could be done to Off
set the rldicule which the nickname
Calico Charlie was causing in some
quarters.
Don't offset It. said Foster,
Spread 1t far and wide throughout
the state. Let the farmers wives and
families know that ! did buy and sell
calico, and that It was such good cal
leo that the people came 10 my place
Of business from miles around in
order to buy my goods
We'll, the nickname, instead of
proving fatal, became the best cam
paign argument that Charlie Foster
had. In his own town they began to
drape the houses with strips OF
calico; they made banners and fes-
toons Of calico goods The idea
spread like wildfire throughout the
state. Calico was used everywhere in
place of bunting; many people had
calico strips of red, white and blue
sewn together. The farmers wives
wore what they called Charles Fos.
ter calico dresses. Before the cam
paign ended almost every Republican
in the state wore a calico necktie
And the result was that Charlie Eos.
ter beat the Democratic candidate for
governor by a very large majority.
He told me some years after the
election that II would have beer
worth ten thousand dollars in his
campaign If the campaign committed
had been Obliged to pay that much
money to the man who suggested thai
the Republican candidate for COVER
nor be nicknamed Calico Garlic"
Copyright, 1912 by r. J. Edwards
All rights rserved.)