Match Safe, Theodore Roosevelt, 1904
date: label: date made
content: 1904
name: label: associated person
content: Roosevelt, Theodore
notes: label: Description
content: Representations of Theodore Roosevelt with bears began after he famously refused to shoot a restrained bear on a 1902 hunting trip to Mississippi. This pocket match safe, sold during his 1904 presidential campaign, features multiple bears including one with glasses who looks much like the Republican candidate. Metal match safes, popular between 1870 and 1930, allowed smokers to carry friction matches without fear they would rub together and burst into flame in their pockets.
label: Description
content: Roosevelt was running as an incumbent in 1904 having ascended to the presidency after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. He won a full term in his own right by defeating his Democratic challenger Alton Parker and Eugene V. Debs, a Socialist.
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
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.319892.02
label: catalog number
content: 319892.02
label: accession number
content: 319892
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Match Safe
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 3/4 in x 2 3/4 in x 1/2 in; 4.445 cm x 6.985 cm x 1.27 cm