Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Marshall prepared for their first inauguration in 1913.
As we head into 2013, I thought it might be fun to look back at some items from exactly 100 years ago. All the way back in 1913.
Woodrow Wilson had just won the November 1912 election and would be taking office in a couple months. Inaugural items for Wilson and Vice President Thomas Marshall were being produced by vendors across the country to celebrate the new president’s swearing in come March. It’s possible to still find those today with the 1913 date on them.
But Wilson wasn’t the only issue of the day.
Suffragettes were marching in the streets in many cities, hoping that a change in presidential politics might work in their favor. Before Wilson left office in 1921, women’s suffrage hopes would be fulfilled and they would vote in the 1920 election. Searching through some auctions, it isn’t difficult to find suffrage items from 1913. Real photo postcards of marchers in the streets make for a great collection that show the mood of the day.
Just a dozen years past his assassination, former President William McKinley can still be found on items from 1913. Some are memorial items, and others are for organizations that were named for him after his death. They aren’t campaign, but they are politically related.
Some folks collect candidates, some collect campaigns and others collect certain types of items. It’s possible to put together a collection of items from a particular year that give a collector a feel for the times.
Even 12 years after his assassination, people were still remembering William McKinley.
Suffragettes march through Washington in 1913.
