Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Teddy Roosevelt's "Square Deal"

On my Bullmoose Journal blog for October 2, 2006, I posted a picture of one of my favorite Theodore Roosevelt campaign items. This pin is 7/8" in diameter, but at least one exists that is 1 1/4 inches in diameter. The pin is pretty rare; I have only seen 2 or 3 in over 55 years of collecting. This one has it all--the picture, the date, the slogan, and even a carpenter's square to emphasize the slogan. In his 1912 Progressive Party campaign, Roosevelt offered "a square deal for every man and for every woman in the United States."

About six years ago, another pin with a carpenter's square on it showed up. It is also 7/8 inch diameter. This one bears the name Parker. Alton B. Parker was Roosevelt's opponent in the 1904 campaign. The phrase "square deal" has always been attributed to Roosevelt. But Alton Parker apparently used the carpenter's square first, albeit without the slogan. Except for the handful of these pins that appeared in 2002, to my knowledge it has not been seen before or since.

This "square deal" pin is a lot more common. It is 7/8 inch diameter, and was used in the 1912 campaign. Almost every collector of TR campaign items has this one.


Here is a fourth "square deal" pin. It is also 7/8 inch diameter. I found it on eBay a while back. It is the only one like it that I have seen. The seller probably did not even see the meaning, let alone consider it a campaign item. It can only mean "square deal," and is probably a Theodore Roosevelt campaign pin.


If you have a "square deal" pin that is different from these, please post a comment about it.

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