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Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Campaign button

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Campaign button

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Reason
The United States presidential election of 1860 saw the earliest use of candidate portraits on campaign buttons. This example is a two sided button with a tintype portrait of Abraham Lincoln on one side and a corresponding portrait of his running mate on the reverse. These images have not been restored due to use at the tintype article which compares the durability of this process to other photographic media of the period.
Articles this image appears in
United States presidential election, 1860, Political campaign, Tintype, Campaign button, Hannibal Hamlin
Creator
Matthew Brady, photographer
upstateNYer 02:01, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • (1) - Historically, campaign buttons were originally buttons that were sewn into clothing. (2) and (3) - Negligible. Durova322 02:15, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
      • But that's not the case for this one. It has an obverse and a reverse, meaning it was meant to be flipped at will, something clothing buttons can't do. It almost looks like it's to be worn around the neck like a medallion. Also, who took the photos? That credit isn't mentioned. upstateNYer 04:11, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
        • Comment Agree with UpstateNYer-- Brady may have taken the tintype, but the tintype only takes up a small percentage of the nominated photo. I'd be concerned about the license of the nominated photo. Spikebrennan (talk) 12:58, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment, how much does the string (and large grey area around it) really aid the understanding of the reader? A closer crop around the button would definitely look better in the various article and be more focused on the topic it's illuminating (the person being depicted, the photography method, etc). The reduced pixel-count and file size of a crop would also help with loading times and make the image more accessible. Guest9999 (talk) 14:28, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment. I agree they need to be cropped. The string adds nothing to the images, IMO. Kaldari (talk) 19:50, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Response to comments The two-sided button and the manner of attachment were elements which I presumed would be understood without need for specific background, but apparently I erred when making that estimate. Here's a quote that gives the basics:
"From the earliest days of the nation, political trinkets such as clothing buttons...were used during each campaign cycle. Inaugural clothing buttons were produced for George Washington. Campaign medals, often about the size of a quarter, could be drilled or 'holed,' attached to a string, and worn on a man’s lapel. With the expansion of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, ferrotype (an early type of photography) buttons were used. These were followed by cheaper, round, pin-backed buttons or shirt studs that had small photographs of candidates glued onto them. In the 1860 presidential race, this type of “button” was produced for Lincoln, Douglas, Bell, and Breckenridge, the major candidates of that pivotal election."[1]
This was the oldest photographic button I was able to locate. There were also two photo buttons from the 1864 election which were historically interesting: one was a two sided button with a fragment of antique ribbon through the hole and another was an early stick pin button (which suffered from substantial corrosion). On balance, the encyclopedic value of the Lincoln/Hamlin button seemed greater because 1860 appears to have been the first year in which photographic campaign buttons were used.
Per the bibliographic notes, these photographs were taken by Library of Congress staff and are US Government public domain. The button manufacturer is not named in the record but obviously passes PD-1923 by a wide margin. It would confuse viewers to composite these photographs, because that would create a misleading impression of two items rather than one. The string provides a visual suggestion of the way the item was worn. If someone really wants to crop and rotate I won't object, but it seems that a two-sided political button makes more sense with the context that the string provides--since people wear political buttons so differently now. Durova322 20:38, 8 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not promoted --Makeemlighter (talk) 06:29, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

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