JFK BIG FOUR: DEMOCRACY FOR JACK KENNEDY RARE 1960 US CAPITOL PORTRAIT BUTTON.
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Winning Bid:
$17,277.96
(Includes 18% Buyer's Premium)
Bidding Ended:
Tuesday, July 25, 2023 9:00:00 PM (20 Minute Clock Begins At Tuesday, July 25, 2023 9:00:00 PM)
Item Description
Frank Allen, owner of Frank Allen Specialties in New York City, was a friend of the Kennedy family and in 1960 he set about finding ways to help the campaign of John F. Kennedy deciding on producing pin-back button designs that were ultimately some of the best for any JFK 1960 campaign buttons. A run of samples was produced, and the mythology begins- , the handed down story, linked to Dave Powers JFK's confidant starting in his 1946 Congressional campaign, goes that Allen carried some along on a trip to the Hyannis where the notoriously hot-tempered Joseph Kennedy Sr. became infuriated with the designs shouting "My son is going to be the next President of the United States you can't use ugly pictures like this!" He also reportedly took issue with the use of Jack in the slogan "Democracy For Jack Kennedy" stating, "Nobody calls the next President Jack except his family!" Whatever the reality the buttons were never produced in quantities more than the sample run of 36 and only a few have survived to this day. They have become the holy grail for Kennedy button collectors and rank among the most sought-after artifacts within the organized hobby of campaign button collecting. To our knowledge only two sets have ever been completed and a group of all four has never been offered at the same time, making our current offerings a potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire this coveted set in one fail swoop.
3.5" w/metal back and horizontal bar pin. Union bug on curl at 9 o'clock. Produced by Frank Allen Specialties in New York City. Faint mark at extreme outer edge 10 o'clock under the cello that occurred in manufacturing. Otherwise only trivial wear. NM as made. Long held as the key to the Big Four set, illustrated by the fact the lifetime JFK collector John Hillhouse was missing only this design from his legendary Kennedy holdings. See additional designs in next three lots.
A note from Americana Specialist Scott Mussell: Despite how Joe Kennedy Sr. reportedly felt I have always thought these were among the finest designs from the 1960 campaign and while the Cox & Roosevelt jugate buttons are considered the most highly prized buttons among Presidential campaign material collectors- it is hard for me to imagine that these Kennedy buttons don't rank closely both now and especially in the long run. They are steeped in fascinating history combined with extreme rarity and feature the most iconic candidate of the last half of the 20th century. It is a privilege to bring together these four outstanding buttons and present them to the collecting world for the first time all at once.
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