I have been looking for an example of this piece for a number years. This piece was issued during the Columbian Exposition which opened in 1893, and is listed in the so-called dollar book as HK-214. It is listed as an R-6 in that series with an estimated surviving population of from 21 to 75 pieces. I would estimate that the number of surviving pieces is much closer to 75 than 20, but finding one does involve some vigilance and effort. It is also listed in American Political Badges and Medalets 1789 – 1892 by Edmund B. Sullivan. On June 2, 1886, Grover Cleveland, 49, a lifelong bachelor, married Frances Folsom age 21 at the White House. He was also the only president ever to be married at the presidential residence. The difference in age would have been enough to get start more than a little gossip, but the story gets juicier. Frances Folsom was the daughter of Grover Cleveland's law partner. When he died in a carriage accident Frances was a baby and Grover Cleveland became her legal guardian. He even purchased her first baby carriage. Over the years a relationship developed between the two that ultimately blossomed into love. After Frances finished college they were married. Some of Cleveland's opponents tried to make their marriage into a political issue. There were claims that Cleveland was an over bearing brute who beat his bride. The Clevelands suffered through these lies for a while, but ultimately Frances, went public, refuted the charges and described their marriage as a totally happy one. The Cleveland re-election campaign issued these two pieces during the 1888 campaign. Given the age difference between Grover and his bride Frances, their marriage might have been viewed as a scandal. The reality was quite different. In response the public embraced the Cleveland family, and First Lady Frances Cleveland became immensely popular. In fact she and their growing family became a major political asset for the Cleveland presidency. Their first child, Ruth, was born in 1891 at a time when Grover was looking to regain the White House. Cleveland had lost his bid for re-election in 1888, but came back to win the White House in 1892 thus becoming the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. at the White House. It has been claimed that the Baby Ruth candy bar was named after Ruth Cleveland. I do not agree with that claim. Ruth Cleveland died of diphtheria at age 12 in 1904, much to the sadness of her aging father. The claim that a candy company would use the name of a presidential off-spring 17 years after her death and 24 years after her father left office lacks credibility. The real story is a bit more devious. This is Babe Ruth's 1961 Fleer baseball card. I have a couple of better condition ones somewhere, but couldn't come up with them. And, yes, my mother didn't throw my cards away. By this time baseball player, Babe Ruth, was coming into his prime. In 1920 Ruth set an astonishing record by hitting 54 homeruns in a single season. He was becoming the toast of baseball, and an endorse using his name was value. Instead calling their candy the "Babe Ruth Bar" the candy company called it "Baby Ruth" instead and thus avoided paying any royalty fees.
It's not worth much in that condition. It was issued in 1961. Fleer also issued a set of "Baseball Greats" in 1960 which was a bit more interesting. Those cards showed the players with a contemporary background instead of matted against the colors. I have a coplete set of the 1961 cards, but they have to be great shape and certified to be worth anything. Collectors pay big bucks for the cards that were issued during a player's career. They are not as interested in these "after career" cards. I know quite a bit of baseball history because these cards got me started as a child. Oddly enough I don't follow it very much now.
I was born in 1961. I have some non-sport trading cards...star wars, star trek, battlestar galactica, DC and marvel sets. I stopped buying trading cards awhile ago. Someday I wanna catch up and buy the rest of the star trek hologram cards between $40-100 each ouch!
Thanks @johnmilton for sharing this interesting historical piece, and for the informative write-up. I don't have any relevant collectibles, so I'll share a favorite quote from "The Simpsons" that this reminded me of. In the episode "Two Bad Neighbors", Bart Simpson is complaining because he has been spanked by former president George H.W. Bush (long story). To which Grandpa Simpson replies, "Big deal! When I was a pup, we got spanked by Presidents till the cows came home. Grover Cleveland spanked me on two non-consecutive occasions."
I'm having a little trouble with the third of America's Trinity of Heroes. Obviously the first is GW, the second is Honest Abe. Is the third one US Grant? And if it is, why the 1865 date?
Yes, the third one is U.S. Grant. In 1865 he was at the height of his political popularity. Lincoln was dead, and President Andrew Johnson was as popular as small pox. The many Grant scandals were not in the forefront of people’s minds. They only remembered the Civil War hero who had died fairly recently. Here is a Grant for president medalet that was issued in 1864. A “Grant for President Group” was forming. The reason why Lincoln did not make Grant the head of the Army earlier was that he was afraid that Grant would try to unseat him for the 1864 Republican presidential nomination. Grant told him he had no intention of running, and Lincoln promoted him.
And that went beyond where the radical Republicans wanted him to do. Lincoln had it right with your former enemies, “Let ‘em up easy.” Or you can do what idiot leaders did after World War 1 and sow the seeds for the next war, bankrupt them and make the way for Hitler. The generation of diplomats who ruled things during the period from 1914 to 1918 were the dumbest, most idiotic leaders in world history. They were responsible for the deaths of many young men from two generations.
