From Aug. 25-28, the Democratic National convention will be held in Denver, followed Sept. 1-4 by the Republicans' assembly in Minneapolis. Already, the collectibles of tomorrow are appearing on the radar.

A recent Wall Street Journal article reported on the rush for Obamiana and how campaign posters and other works depicting the nominee are being snapped up — some artist's prints already having appreciated from $200 to $2,000. There's even an online blog tracking the soaring prices of the art for presumptive Democratic presidential Barack Obama.

Though this is something of an aberration, over the years, mountains of political memorabilia, some relating specifically to conventions has been produced and disseminated, and is available to collectors at far more modest prices than the above. This includes celluloid pinback buttons, badges issued to delegates and the press, and paper items such as posters, programs, platform pamphlets, tickets, fans, and paper pennants and hats. A century ago, there was also a variety of fabric items, including delegate sashes and cummerbunds, ribbons, hats, pennants, wall hangers, and large banners.

Programs and platform statements were issued for each convention, and some of them could be quite voluminous. The "Republican National Convention Official Program" from the 1948 convention that nominated Thomas E. Dewey was 92 pages long, and the Official Program-Democratic National Convention of 1948 — the one that nominated Dewey's opponent Harry Truman, was 80 pages.

In 1956, the "Centennial National Republican Convention souvenir program ran to 160 pages; by 1968, the Republican program for the Miami Beach convention had swelled to 168 pages and the 1972 one held in the same city to 288.

Ribbons, usually with the candidates' pictures and/or slogans printed directly on the fabric, were common in the 19th century, exemplified by an 1840 William Henry Harrison New England Convention ribbon with the image of Harrison and symbols of the different states. A variation is a Democratic Club Convention celluloid, with pictures of Grover Cleveland and Adlai Stevenson, attached to a ribbon.

Another prime category consists of the often elaborate badges worn to identify delegates, alternates, "honored guests," national committee members, and the press. Most early examples consisted of a metal disk embossed with a symbol such as the American eagle, the Liberty Bell or the White House, hung from a red, white and blue ribbon. A 1946 Indiana state Democratic convention medal for delegates honored the memory of Franklin Roosevelt with the slogan "Carry On", and a more recent ribbon urged (the second) Adlai Stevenson to choose Sen. John F. Kennedy as his running mate.

There are also any number of unusual and comical items issued. Sheet music, such as "That Grand Old Party," featuring Uncle Sam and the GOP elephant, was produced for the 1938 Republican convention. The year 1948 saw convention souvenirs in the form of cigar bands and there were Franklin Roosevelt matchbooks welcoming delegates to the Chicago Democratic National Convention of 1940, as well as a money-holder pocketknife for the Atlantic City Democratic convention of 1964. Even more unusual were the "magic" light bulbs handed out to Reagan supporters at the 1968 convention, bearing the slogan "Ron Turns Me On."

RECOMMENDED REFERENCE: "Warman"s Political Collectibles" by Dr. Enoch L. Nappen (Krause Publications) provides a useful identification and price guide to a wide variety of campaign, convention and other political memorabilia. Rather than progressing chronologically as previous guides have done, its knowledgeable and well illustrated chapters focus on such categories as medals, coins and badges, photography (a particularly rich selection of daguerreotypes, cartes de visites, and more modern photos); buttons, textiles and clothing (from a Harrison ribbon to a Truman tie), paper ephemera-postcards, sheet music (catchy tunes like "Never Swap Horses When You're Crossing a Stream"), posters and prints, jewelry and toys. It's a book that deserves a place on any political collector's bookshelf.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, including "Cool Names for Babies" and "The Baby Name Bible" (St. Martin's Press; www.babynamebible.com). She cannot answer letters personally. To find out more about Linda Rosenkrantz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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