Pinback button promoting Alton Parker and opposing Theodore Roosevelt for president, 1904. The Whitehead & Hoag Co., Newark, New Jersey.
Depicts the "Grand Old Pirate" elephant shackled to a ball and chain labeled, THE TRUSTS, standing on a football bearing the legend, THE PEOPLE/ RAH! RAH! RAH!/ A SAFETY'S THE SCORE/ PARKER & DAVIS/ 1904; goalpost is labeled, ROOSEVELTISM; in blue border, the legend above, UNCLE SAM'S "WHITE" ELEPHANT; below left, IT'S GAME; below right, IT'S FINISH. Back paper ridicules the Roosevelt administration's profligate spending, calling it "G.O.P. Recapitulation" and showing a deficit of $40,000,000.00. (Making this perhaps the first appearance of deficit hawks, as well as the first football analogy in presidential politics.)
One of the all-time classic political pinbacks, the Parker-Davis "White Elephant" has been a favorite for generations of collectors. This example is in top condition, retaining complete back paper, and unlike many, the design is nicely centered. Rah! Rah! Rah!
