For the 13th year in a row, east coast collectors of political buttons, badges, ribbons and related ephemera will meet in Titusville, N.J., on Saturday, May 14, to sell, trade and display memorabilia from the 2016 campaigns, as well as from elections throughout history. This show is scheduled from 9 a.m. through 3 p.m. at the Titusville United Methodist Church.
Attendees may expect to see a wide variety of political items, ranging from present day candidates, to items from such popular former presidents as Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.
The gathering will be hosted by the local chapter of the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) a national nonprofit hobbyist association, dedicated to preserving political history.
"Our meeting will offer a great opportunity for young and old alike to collect buttons and other items from this year's exciting presidential campaigns," said Tony Lee, a Titusville resident and president of APIC's Big Apple Chapter. "Most political items don't survive the elections in which they were used, so to see an ‘I Like Ike’ apron or a Ronald Reagan cowboy hat or a clothing button worn at George Washington's inauguration and inscribed with ‘Long Live the President’ is a great experience for students of political history at any age."
The historic Titusville United Methodist Church is located at 7 Church Road - at the corner of River Road (Route 29) and Church Road - in Titusville, just seven miles due south of the Lambertville, N.J., flea market. The button show will be held in the church's separate Education Building. Ample free parking is available.
Admission to the event will be $3 for each adult. Any child 12 years or younger may enter free of charge. To encourage a lifelong love of political history and collecting, each child will receive assorted buttons, free of charge, to start his or her own personal collection. Free appraisals will be offered for all political items brought in by the public. Members of the public may also bring items for the group’s auction. There is a commission rate of 10 percent of the overall sale. Breakfast and lunch, a wide selection of baked goods, and bottomless cups of hot coffee and tea, will be offered for sale, with net proceeds from food sales to benefit the church's ongoing ministries.
For more information, contact Tony Lee at 609-730-9490 or email at thefourlees@verizon.net.