I just added 2 long-time wants with one of them being a “Holy grail” addition to my South Dakota button collection today.
First is one of the most challenging pins to find for any South Dakota button collectors, the Joe Foss Ace High Republican pin for the 1956 San Francisco Republican National Convention, where Governor Joe Foss was being touted as a possible vice-presidential contender. Haven’t heard about Foss being a VP contender? An effort was definitely mounted, but by the time when the nominations were made..
.. it seems to have gone away, and the vice-presidential nomination went to Richard Nixon instead.
This is an exceedingly rare South Dakota political pin and near impossible to find, so this nearly mint condition example that I’ve been trying to acquire for years is a welcome find.
The second pin is almost as tough, so when the offer for both of the pins came to me, I couldn’t turn it down either. The 1937 Les Jensen Inaugural pin is only the third inaugural pin issued, so this 85 year old pin is expensive, and not easy to find. Very happy to add it to my wall. This only leaves me the very challenging first inaugural pin to find, the 1933 inaugural pin. (Also looking for the 1947 Mickelson and 1953 Sig Anderson pins which I have around here somewhere).
They say that political memorabilia collectors are history’s dumpster divers. Great day for searching through our state’s rubbish today!