Collecting Sir John A. Macdonald (part 1)

With Canadians about to celebrate the 199th birthday of  our first Prime Minister, Sir John Alexander Macdonald on Saturday, January 11, I thought that it would be fun to bookend the party with a discussion on how one might collect items pertaining to the father of our country.  Part 1 will be a discussion of election materials.  Part 2 will be a discussion of other Macdonald era items that can be found.  I’ll extend the bookend with a part 3 which will look at more contemporary uses of his image and name.  Plus, at the end of part 3 I will give a sneak peak of how you should celebrate his 200th birthday (trust me…you won’t want to miss it).

His last election in 1891 was 3 years before the invention of the “pinback button”.  However, that doesn’t mean that there still aren’t ways to have a piece of Macdonald in your collection.

Prior to the 1896 election (the first with pinbacks), parties still produced election material.  This is area that’s the most fun to collect…actual Sir John A. (National Liberal-Conservative party) election material.

The most common item produced was posters.  Over the course of Macdonald’s campaigns numerous posters were made.  Some focused on the leader, while others focused on candidates.  Some times, they looked at policy issues.  For the most part, they were larger than contemporary posters (after all, they were the primary source of promotion for the parties).

Ribbons were another popular item.  Just like posters, they were produced with the leader and with candidates.  Another area where they were popular, just as with buttons today, was for specific events.  A group or person holding an event with an appearance by Macdonald, sometimes produced a souvenir ribbon.

Just like today, parties produced pamphlets.  They could be for a local campaign, the provincial organization or the national campaign.  Regardless, the party would always include a picture of the leader, Sir John A. Macdonald.

Medals (coins) are the other election related material that one can associate with the elections.  Prior to buttons, parties produced medals to advocate for their candidates and leaders.  Finding original Sir John A. Macdonald election medals, especially where they use his likeness, is always a treat.

Do you have any Sir John A. Macdonald election items in your collection?  If so, tell me about it in the comment section.  Also, please post photos in the Shoppe’s Favourites album on Facebook.

To see Sir John A. Macdonald items currently available CLICK HERE.