William Jennings Bryan Soap Doll
name: label: associated person
content: Bryan, William Jennings
label: associated person
content: McKinley, William
notes: label: Description
content: Many factors, including changes in technology and the emotionally charged issues of the day, led to an explosion of campaign items in the 1896 presidential election. Of the more than 2000 varieties produced, none was more unusual than the soap baby. The campaigns of both the Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan and his Republican opponent and eventual winner William McKinley featured individual infant-shaped soaps each of which rested in a cardboard box with a tag promoting the policies of the relevant party. Future politicians abandoned these items apparently because voters thought they looked too much like babies in coffins.
topic: label: used
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.227739.1896.X30
label: catalog number
content: 227739.1896.X30
label: accession number
content: 227739
objectType: label: Object Name
content: soap
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: soap (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 1/2 in x 2 in x 1 1/4 in; 11.43 cm x 5.08 cm x 3.175 cm