"Hard Cider" Cane, 1840
notes: label: Description
content: A critical remark made by a Democratic newspaperman gave birth to the log cabin and the hard cider barrel as Whig symbols to promote the candidacy of William Henry Harrison. The newspaperman wrote that Harrison’s rivals could easily “get rid of” the old general with “a barrel of hard cider, and settle a pension of two thousand a year on him, and my word for it, he will sit the remainder of his days in his log cabin by the side of a ‘sea coal’ fire and study moral philosophy.” Though the Democratic press reprinted the suggestion as a cutting remark, Harrison’s Whig friends embraced the everyday attributes of log cabins and hard cider and the symbols soon appeared on various campaign objects including this cane from 1840.
topic: label: general subject association
content: Political Campaigns
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Campaign Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
label: Exhibition
content: American Democracy
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Ralph E. Becker Collection of Political Americana
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.227739.1840.H02
label: catalog number
content: 227739.1840.H02
label: accession number
content: 227739
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cane
label: Object Name
content: Cane
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood, thorn (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 34 1/2 in x 4 in x 2 in; 87.63 cm x 10.16 cm x 5.08 cm