As Hake’s Americana & Collectibles ends their 50th year in auctions, the house that was built on political and historical collecting proved once again why they are a quintessential venue for selling Americana material.
On Tuesday, November 14, 2017, during the first night of closing for the current auction, Hake’s sold the exceedingly rare “Americanize America” Vote for Cox and Roosevelt jugate button for $47,278 (including the 18% buyer’s premium). This sale sets a new world record for the piece, eclipsing the previous record of $42,900 set in 2008, and sets a world record for any button sold at public auction.
The energy was still high in the early morning hours of Wednesday, November 15, when bidding on the jugate closed. When asked for his reaction to the record, Hake’s Founder Ted Hake said, “The pinback button and I have been on a 50-year journey. It is fitting and thrilling to me that the final auction of Hake’s Americana & Collectibles first half century has established the world record price for a button at auction.”
The Cox and Roosevelt jugate came in six designs and at present there are less than 50 examples total. This particular design is the rarest of them, being the only jugate with the slogan “Americanize America” referencing the nativism that was experienced at the time. In fact, it’s been almost a decade since one of these jugates has been offered for sale. The rarity can be compared to a copy of Action Comics #1 or a Honus Wagner T206 tobacco card for comics or baseball collectors, respectively.
Democrats had a low prospect of victory in 1920; therefore, they did not make a lot of campaign material, particularly jugate buttons. Aside from rarity, its attractiveness is enhanced by the fact that the vice president was a young politician from New York who would go on to be one of the most well-regarded presidents in the history of the U.S.
Through their research, Hake’s found only eight examples of this jugate, with one owned by the Cox family and three with known condition issues, meaning only four in potentially high grade could be available for all of the collectors vying for the piece. This example is in Near Mint condition, though it displays Mint, making it the pinnacle of political collecting opportunities.
Knowing that type of information, which Hake’s finds through diligent research and content presentation, can be critical in generating more interest to the hobby.
“Historical artifacts have long been appreciated by collectors, but the interest in political campaign and social issue collectibles expanded and enjoyed immense growth beginning in the 1960s concurrent with the founding of Hake’s auctions,” Hake said. “Our goal has never been to simply sell objects. The guiding principle has been to fully document each cultural artifact that passes through our hands. We’ve attempted to share our discoveries through reference books on campaign collectibles and many other subjects.
“Collecting the artifacts of political campaigns and causes provides wonderful hands-on insight to our rich, shared American history,” Hake continued. “The growth of auction houses, reference books, multi-dealer co-ops and the internet over the past 50 years have all helped each community of collecting specialists determine what is common and what is rare within each collectible genre. I expect to see continued price increases for those items blessed with the winning combination of demand, rarity, and condition.”
