A couple of great South Dakota pins for my collection

Pat Powers

A couple of new South Dakota political pins arrived for my collection today:

The jumbo (6in) South Dakota Reagan Country 1980 GOP National Convention delegate pin is always popular, and I managed to get this duplicate for my collection inexpensively. (It makes a great centerpiece for a display, or a good trading item, so I’ll pick them up if they’re cheap – this makes #3).

The So. Dakota for Nixon Agnew pin is a little more elusive, and I didn’t have this one for my Presidential/South Dakota display which has outgrown it’s display case in the months since I put it up:

I’ve got a big display case which should arrive today, allowing me to get my regular SD pins which have been boxed up for a year or so back up on the wall, so I’ll probably be reworking the displays that sit behind me in the coming weeks.

Ideally, I’d like to rework everything, as things have been stacking up, and I’ve got multiple items that should be framed and hung, things that were once up on the wall that are in cupboards, etcetera.

Update:  Well, I got my new case in the mail.. and I managed to fit just my SD federal race pins in, leaving my Gubernatorial pins still in storage.

I’m thinking I’m going to need a few more of those to fit everything.

13 thoughts on “A couple of great South Dakota pins for my collection”

  2. Not to brag. Ok I am bragging. I have that pin mounted on a wood block cut in the shape of South Dakota. I was given it by State Co-Chair Nora Hussey for being the Reagan Youth Rep on the SD Reagan Committee. You had to be on the Committee to get it. The wood blocks were made and stained for Nora by someone I think from Belle Fourche or near there. It is in a prominent place in my office today.

    Back then as a 19 year old, I thought it a position of honor I got to sit next to Nora at the meetings. Years later I asked Nora about it. She said she sat me there because she could pull my hair to keep me from saying something stupid. She really said “pull my hair.” Read into it what you will.

  3. First, you’re shalessly promoting your political button collection. In that regard, you’re the new Dave Kranz, who would write a column a year referencing his collection – which resulted in more gifts from readers.

    Secondly, those of us that ACTUALLY were Reagan Delegates have those buttons (you second hander you)

    Nice work my friend 👍😀. If you ever get all of yours displayed, you can come to my office and help organize the most complete South Dakota political button collection in South Dakota. I bought Bern Schliesman’s and added it to mine 😜

    1. You’re going to win this game of political button “survivor” by outlasting the rest of us!

    2. I’m sure I can trade you a Kamala Harris South Dakota pin for something… I hear they’re valuable since they aren’t making any more. 🙂

  4. The Reagan pin is awesome! Any idea who the artist was or what other art was done along that line for him that year?

    1. The artist was Mike Sougstad. He had painted that picture in full color, and the GOP sold prints as a big fundraiser that year… which I was told kind of fizzled. So the unsold prints have shown up at Lincoln Day Dinners from time to time ever since.

    2. Regarding the picture, it depends on how you define fizzled.

      I could have this totally backwards or messed up but here is what I remember.

      The SD Reagan Committee wanted to sell the artwork for like $1,000 and keep the money local. Nora et. al. thought Abdnor was sucking up all the cash up in his race against McGovern, she was worried Clint Roberts might not have enough money as well as some legislative seats (legislature was closer 50%) then.

      The problems she ran into:

      1) The National Reagan Committee (like all national candidates of either party) have policies regarding sale of image to prevent funds going into pockets of people instead of being used for Reagan’s campaign.

      2) So, then they were going to give them to the candidates and local parties they deemed needed the revenue. And, that is what fizzled. They just didn’t have the infrastructure or organization to sell things.

      What I remember least is whether the prints were ever given to the candidates and parties or just given away by Nora, Mike, Char H., and some of the others who were adults on the committee.

      I’m glad though this has come up. I may have one of those prints in my political chest from the 80’s. As I was single and really didn’t have a home, I had a chest at my mom’s where I threw all my TAR, CR, Reagan, Abdnor, Roberts, et. al stuff. About 10 years ago when my mom made me take that chest, I opened it to see if hadn’t rotted. All was good so I closed it back up.

  6. Wasn’t Sougstad from Sturgis? I know he, the artist, was from western South Dakota

  7. Neat collection! I picked up some Nixon campaign pins when I was at his library last month. “Nixon Now!”, “Nixon/Agnew”

    I’m intrigued by the Kerry/Daschle pin…was that a SD Dem button?

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