Collecting the Sisterhood Part 2
by Elizabeth Hanes

cont part 1

WCTU

The Women’s Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1874, was a highly visible and dynamic organization. The WCTU is still active today, and while its heyday may have passed, its memorabilia remains collectible. A lot of over 100 pamphlets, newspapers and other ephemera in fair to very good condition was recently offered by Cowan’s Historic Americana Auctions during eBay Live Auction’s “Best From the Midwest: Spring 2004” event and realized $170.00 (not including 20% buyer’s premium). At the other end of the price spectrum, a lot consisting of a circa 1900 “cold water blotter” and paper ruler emblazoned with the slogan “total abstinence is a good rule,” sold on eBay for $9.50. An unused, 1920s anti-prohibition postcard with the motto “All nations are welcome except Carrie” flanked by two stylized axes, made $48.12.

Suffrage

The time period most closely associated with the suffrage movement spans about sixty-five years, from the first woman suffrage convention in 1848 to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Within the realm of this era, serious collectors of feminist materials converge on the increasingly scarce supply of items.

Surprisingly for its delicate nature, a fair amount of ephemera has survived, as have photographs. A June 11, 1859, issue of Harper’s Weekly magazine containing a full-page engraving depicting a large women’s suffrage meeting commanded $10.75 (as half of a two-magazine lot) on eBay. An 1871 copy of “The Revolution” newspaper, the original suffrage newspaper started in 1868 by Susan B. Anthony, recently realized $38.00 on eBay. A 1925 photo of Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for President of the United States (in 1872) made $16.50.

Cowan’s offered a number of suffrage lots during the “Best of the Midwest” event. (The following sale prices do not include a 20% buyer’s premium.) Among them were a lot of 30 excellent condition newspapers, “The Woman’s Column,” printed in 1890 in Boston, which made $350; a lot of five late-1800s suffrage handbills in very good condition, which realized $150; and an octavo-sized program commemorating the 50 th anniversary of the first women’s rights convention, with photos, in very good condition with a center crease and weak hinge, that netted $550.

Due to the scarcity of items from the early part of the suffrage era and the consequent expense of those pieces, “Collectors should start slowly with suffrage material,” Lapinsky-Sax said. “Monitor suffrage items to see what’s available and what the value of particular items is.” She also noted that while eBay is a good venue for purchasing suffrage collectibles, buyers should know what they’re bidding on. “We [APIC] have handled complaints over clear misrepresentation of items on eBay—maybe a photograph advertised as being Susan B. Anthony, but it’s not actually her—but we’ve had no complaints about the condition of items bought on eBay.”

Later suffrage-era items, circa 1910, remain available in relative abundance. Last June’s Slater’s Provenance Auction included several suffrage items of interest. A 34” felt pennant lettered “Votes for Women” in gold on a purple field with the emblem of the Woman Suffrage Party was in fine condition and sold for $888 (prices do not include 15% buyer’s premium). A 23” yellow pennant with “Votes for Women” lettered in black topped out at $656. A gauzy yellow cotton flag measuring 8x6”and attached to its original 18” stick fluttered to $357. A framed lot consisting of a small, white “Votes for Women” pennant on its original stick mounted alongside a small, 1918-dated New York handbill favoring legislation to give women the vote marched to a $424 sale.

Reproductions

The issue of unauthentic items can be a thorny one with collectors of women’s issues—because “reproduction” doesn’t necessarily mean “fraudulent.”

“Items made in the past 10-20 years for recent marches and causes sometimes are reproductions of original suffrage materials,” Lapinsky-Sax said. Ironically, these reproductions can be collectible in their own right. A reproduction pinback created for a 1972 ERA march, for example, would be desirable to those collecting ERA-related memorabilia. While no definitive printed guide yet exists to catalog and document collectibles related to the women’s movement, the APIC website (www.apic.us) offers information on how to distinguish reproductions from originals.

The Weavers Keep Working

Women continue to weave a vibrant tapestry of political and social change for themselves. No matter what the future holds for women, the memorabilia of their story will remain collectible. And, undoubtedly, those protest underpants of the “Axis of Eve” eventually will become very hot vintage collectibles.

Copyright by Elizabeth Hanes ©

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