In 1840, William Henry Harrison ran on the "log cabin and cider" image. In most instances that was depicted on a large number of his tokens, like these two pieces. This is a scarce piece. Pieces like this are quite common Here is a more unusual item. This piece, under glass, was hand painted. I found it at political items show last weekend. It is listed in DeWitt and Sullivan. It is rare to very scarce. It was hand painted, which makes it somewhat unique. The others were probably a little different.
1840 was quite the political political campaign year. Harrison, nicknamed Tippecanoe from the Native Indian War of 1811 and the "Battle of Tippecanoe" Added to this background, he was a general in the War of 1812. Baltimore newspapers stated that if Harrison had a remote log cabin and a barrel of cider, he would drop out of the campaign as a Whig candidate. He had to defeat Henry Clay just to get the Whig nomination for the election. He kept the log cabin as his campaign symbol and faced a tough election: "One of three presidential candidates at the December 1839 Whig National Convention, Harrison gained the nomination over Henry Clay and General Winfield Scott on the fifth ballot. At home, far from the convention in an era of primitive communications, Harrison played no part in the selection of Tyler as running mate. After the convention, a Democratic paper in Baltimore suggested that if offered a pension and some hard cider to drink in a log cabin, Harrison would turn aside from his campaign. The Whigs adopted the cabin and cider as emblems, both of which were commonly seen (and, in the case of cider, drunk) at their rallies, and became symbolic of the party's connection with the grass roots." Harrison won. I am very familiar with the 1840 presidential campaign. Among other things, I was an avid collector of flint glass cup plates and I have cup plates with both Harrison and Clay from the 1840 campaign. Harrison's 4-5 different cup plates have the same log cabin (2 with the cider barrel as well), as depicted on the token and print. I have no photography or computer skills, so I can't post a photo(s) of the cup plates, which are approx 4" in diameter. Anyway, neat token that I wish I had to go with the rest of the 1840 presidential campaign. BTW, the 1841 token that you had first was probably a commemorative, as Harrison died in early 1841 and holds the record for shortest president's term, about 3 months.
Thank you @Bill in Burl for your interesting insights in the 1840 campaign glassware. If you would like to acquire an 1840 Harrison token, they are quite common. If I were still a dealer, I could find one for you. You might check out Steve Hayden on the Internet. You could send him an email. The first token I posted is a large, thick piece. It was issued in May 1840 as it says on the reverse. The 1841 date was for when Harrison would take office if he won the election. The “Young men’s Harrison convention” was a counter demonstration that was held in Baltimore, Maryland to disrupt the Democratic Party convention. The Democrats nominated Martin Van Buren. The young Whig Party men made a lot of noise outside the hall to disrupt the Democrats’ proceedings. During a Whig parade, one of the Democrats struck a young Whig in the head and killed him. The Whigs held a fundraiser for his widow and children which raised over $1,000 if memory serves. That was a considerable sum in those days. The Harrison presidency lasted for only a month. He delivered the longest inaugural address is history on a very cold day. He fell ill a couple of weeks later and could not recover. The nomination of John Tyler for vice president was one of several ill-fated political selections. Unfortunately political parties and presidential candidates have not always been careful in their selection of vice presidential candidates, and it has come back to hurt them. Tyler was a Jeffersonian Democrat who opposed the recharter of The Bank of the United States. Tyler was associated with the Whigs mainly because he disliked Andrew Jackson. The bank was a major campaign issue for the Whigs. Tyler vetoed the bill to recharter it twice, which made him a man without a political party.
Oddly enough, that slogan never appeared on a William Henry Harrison token. Here is as close as it got. This one is fairly common. Harrison was 67 years old when he ran for president, which was pretty old for the time. Most of his medals make him look a lot younger. Here is one of the few that "told the truth" about his age.
I always thought it to be very interesting that John Tyler had a grandson who as of March 2025 is still alive. "Tyler and his son Lyon remarried much younger women and fathered children at advanced ages, such that Tyler's daughter Pearl did not die until the 157th year after her father's birth. As of January 2024, Tyler still has one living grandson (234 years after John Tyler's birth) through Lyon, making him the earliest former president with a living grandchild. This grandson, Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born in 1928 and maintains the family home, Sherwood Forest Plantation, in Charles City County, Virginia.[198][199][200]" Wikipedia
I wonder if it's the earliest anybody with a living grandchild. 235 years is quite a span. If it was my family, I'd still be alive in 2135. I love the subtle "we're going to win" confidence of the first token.
