The weather outside might be frightful, but I’m seeking comfort into bringing some awesome South Dakota history home to stay.
Coming back to South Dakota from Texas, when on-line I found some silk ribbons to add to my collection that I’ve never seen before; a Republican Slate ribbon topped with Pierre for the Permanent Seat of Government & the Mellette for Governor race. There’s a Roosevelt/Taft for President with a portrait of Burke for Senate. And there’s the item pictured below:
Frank Pettigrew, the Pickerel Statesman – First Senator from South Dakota. With a graphic of a pickerel, because that was his thing.
There were others available, but I stretched my pocketbook about as far as I thought I could for the ones I felt I had to have, as the owner was pretty darned proud of these pieces, and I don’t think I had anything he would want in trade.
That’s the problem with liking this South Dakota stuff. There’s just not that many of us, so it’s always kind of scarce. And ribbons, or campaign textiles, are even more of a challenge. They’re old, and usually pre-date buttons. They can be durable, or they fray if you touch them. Or industrious people may have sewn them in a quilt, so when you find them, you have to figure out if it’s worth deconstructing it.
And note – if you ever come across any South Dakota political ribbons (candidate or state political convention) or state capital fight items (Pierre for Capital, Watertown for Capital, etc), get ahold of me here. I’d be interested in at least finding out what you have.
Very cool, Pat!