53rd Annual Delaware Show

Material culture allowed a campaign to cross the threshold from the public sphere into the private home and become a part of daily life. Ceramics, textiles, and personal accessories populated homes with images of a favorite candidate. In the 1820s, copper lusterware pitchers bearing a brooding portrait of “General Jackson, The Hero of New Orleans” brought the volatile politician to the dining table (fig. 2) . Following Jackson’s win in the 1828 election, housewives could make curtains from a victorious inauguration textile, placing the general among the pantheon of U.S. presidents. In 1840 fervent partisans showed their Whiggish loyalty by purchasing entire sets of dining and teawares decorated with a special pattern in support of William Henry Harrison. Produced by William Adams and Sons in Staffordshire, England, the pattern was named “Log Cabin,” after Harrison’s iconic residence on the frontier (fig. 3) . The story of retired General Harrison’s welcoming an injured soldier into his modest home was also printed on bandboxes and molded into glass cup plates for use and display in the home. His log cabin became the logo of the Whig campaign, drawing a domestic connection between the candidate and the electorate. Fig. 2. Lusterware pitcher with the portrait of Andrew Jackson, made in Staffordshire, England, 1824−30. Gift of Mr. B. Thatcher Feustman 1966.69 Fig. 3. Teacup printed with the “Log Cabin” pattern in support of William Henry Harrison, made by William Adams and Sons, Staffordshire, England, 1840. Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont 1969.1738.1 — 27 —