Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
A superb trove of presidential and political memorabilia from the collection of a single owner was sold at Heritage Auctions’ February 21 and 22 Americana and political “Signature” auction.
The Roger H. Kimmel collection featured 916 lots, with an emphasis on political pins from the presidential campaigns of Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge. Of the lots, 447 related to Roosevelt, the 26th U.S. president. The collection also featured other political artifacts such as campaign ribbons and flags.
“This is the greatest collection of Theodore Roosevelt political items ever offered at auction,” stated Curtis Lindner, Americana and political consignment director for Dallas, Texas-based Heritage Auctions. “Roger spent years—decades—building this collection. It is elite in quantity and in quality,” Lindner said. “He always pursued the best.”
The auction realized total sales of $955,462 (including buyers’ premiums).
A native of Queens, New York, Kimmel developed his passion for American history as a high school student. “I read a lot of history books, and I became interested in the election process,” Kimmel said in a statement.
Kimmel launched his collection during a trip to New Mexico. He grew bored visiting art galleries with his wife and wandered off to discover a shop that sold old political buttons. The historical significance of the buttons piqued his interest.
He was able to pursue his passion for collecting because of his successful career as a lawyer and partner in the firm of Latham & Watkins LLP. Kimmel also served as vice chairman of the investment banking firm of Rothschild Inc. and as chairman of the board of the University of Virginia School of Law.
Kimmel collected nearly 2000 items of political and presidential memorabilia, which included 79 lots relating to Calvin Coolidge as well as collectibles dating from the presidency of George Washington and up to 2020. Kimmel grew his collection largely through attending hobby auctions and shows.
Kimmel is now retired, and his decision to downsize from his Connecticut home led to his decision to sell off a part of his collection.
Many items in this collection were related to Theodore Roosevelt, who was one of America’s most popular and accomplished presidents. Before his political career, Roosevelt was a historian and writer. His involvement with politics began when he led a reform group of Republicans in the New York State Legislature. He later served as assistant secretary of the Navy under his presidential predecessor, William McKinley. He resigned from the post to lead the Rough Riders, a military unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba. In 1898 he was elected governor of New York. Two years after that, McKinley chose him as his vice presidential running mate, and the two won in a landslide victory.
Roosevelt served as vice president for only six months in 1901 before assuming the presidency after McKinley’s assassination. At age 42, he was the youngest person to serve as U.S. president. Reelected in 1904, he championed progressive policies that benefited many Americans such as trust-busting and labor rights, and he was dedicated to conservation of natural resources, which led to the establishment of national parks, forests, and monuments.
“Theodore Roosevelt is considered one of the greatest—and is unquestionably one of the most collected—of American presidents,” stated Don Ackerman, Heritage Auctions’ managing director of political Americana.
The 1¾" diameter Roosevelt and Fairbanks “Railway Employes [sic] 20th Century Club” jugate button sold for $47,500 (starting bid $7500). The button features an image of the front of a train, with images of Theodore Roosevelt and his vice presidential running mate, Charles Fairbanks, in the front windows of the engine flanking a headlight that states “To Washington 1904.”
The top-selling lot in the auction was a 1¾" diameter button reading “Railway Employes [sic] 20th Century Club,” which sold for $47,500 (starting bid $7500). The button features an image of the front of a train with images of Roosevelt and his vice presidential running mate, Charles Fairbanks, in the front windows of the engine, flanking a headlight that states “To Washington 1904.”
For more information, visit the website (http://historical.ha.com).
A possibly unique 1¾" diameter pinback campaign button supporting Theodore Roosevelt’s reelection bid in 1904 sold for $37,500 (starting bid $3000). The jugate button features side-by-side images of Roosevelt in civilian clothing and in his Rough Riders uniform.
The iconic 1904 campaign button with Theodore Roosevelt at a gate with Uncle Sam sold for $10,625 (starting bid $1000). The 1½" diameter cartoon button is a highly coveted collectible. The button’s message is “President of All the People” and suggests that the gate will keep out prejudice, lawlessness, and injustice.
The 1¾" diameter pinback cartoon button depicting Theodore Roosevelt in Noah’s ark sold for $21,250 (starting bid $5000). Produced by the Goerke Co. to welcome Roosevelt home from an African safari, this rare button is regarded as one of the most popular Roosevelt collectibles. In the ark with Roosevelt are wild animals from Africa.
The Theodore Roosevelt “Equality” button sold for $10,000 (starting bid $3000). The 1½" diameter celluloid button commemorates a historic 1901 meeting between President Theodore Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington, the first black man to dine at the White House. The meeting was controversial for some Americans and a source of pride for others. In 1903 a poster was created to celebrate the meeting. The button was copied from the poster and was produced by the Chicago Photo Button & Badge Company.
The 1¼" diameter button for the vice presidential campaign of Calvin Coolidge sold for $8125 (starting bid $500). It is considered one of the best single-photo buttons of Coolidge.
This “linked states” button from the inauguration of George Washington sold for $3750 (starting bid $1000). The 34 mm diameter (approximately 11/3") brass button has “Long Live the President” surrounding “GW” written in script at the center and features a chain with the initials of each of the states in the links. The design shows through to the backside of the button.
The cartoon jugate button featuring images of Hiram Johnson of California and Theodore Roosevelt of New York shaking hands across a map of the United States sold for $13,750 (starting bid $3000). Looking on is a bull moose, the symbol of the Progressive Party, a third party formed by Roosevelt after he lost the Republican nomination in 1912. The button is considered to be extremely rare.
This 6" diameter celluloid campaign jugate button from the 1924 presidential campaign of Calvin Coolidge and his vice presidential running mate, Charles G. Dawes, sold for $15,000 (starting bid $4000).
Back-to-back ferrotypes from the 1864 presidential reelection campaign of Abraham Lincoln and his running mate, vice presidential candidate Andrew Johnson, sold for $4500 (starting bid $750). The images are embedded in a 25 mm diameter (approximately 1") gilt brass shell.
The 1¾" diameter jugate button for the 1912 candidates from the Progressive Party (nicknamed the Bull Moose Party), Theodore Roosevelt for president and Hiram Johnson for vice president, sold for $3875 (starting bid $1000). At the time, Roosevelt was the former Republican president and Johnson was governor of California. The button is adorned with gold filigree.
This pair of 1½" diameter campaign celluloid buttons from the 1900 presidential campaigns of William McKinley (right), the incumbent Republican president, and William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic challenger, sold for $4250 (starting bid $1500). The images on the buttons depict the pro- and anti-expansionist viewpoints of the opponents, which was a dominant issue in the campaign that returned McKinley to office.
The ferrotype of General Ulysses S. Grant sold for $3500 (starting bid $500). The photo is encased in a 31 mm x 26 mm (approximately 1¼" x 1") gilt brass or copper shell.
This rare 1¾" diameter jugate button with images of Theodore Roosevelt and William H. Taft sold for $2125 (starting bid $750). Roosevelt, the incumbent president, chose not to seek a third term in 1908 and backed Taft, a friend, to be his successor. Taft defeated Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan in the election. Roosevelt eventually soured on Taft’s policies and entered the 1912 Republican presidential race as the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party candidate. Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected as a result of the split among Republicans.
Three badges with photo images of Theodore Roosevelt in his Rough Riders uniform sold for $2750 (starting bid $500). The set included a 2½" long pendant (right) on a chain with an inset ¾" diameter button of Roosevelt. The casing has a rope border and four capital letter “R” markings, indicating it may have been associated with a Roosevelt Rough Riders reunion. It was made by U.S. Novelty of Newark in New Jersey. Top left is a ¾" x 2" mechanical flag brooch (shown open) with a photo inside of Roosevelt in his Rough Riders uniform. The third badge is a ½" x 1½" stickpin attached to a ribbon with a paper photo of Roosevelt in his Rough Riders uniform and with an attached five-point star stamped “Roosevelt” at the bottom.
The 2" diameter chrome or nickel-plated brass pocket watch displaying conjoined photos of the 1904 Republican presidential ticket candidates sold for $2750 (starting bid $1500). Theodore Roosevelt, the incumbent president, was running for reelection along with Charles W. Fairbanks, a senator from Indiana and his vice presidential running mate. The pocket watch was made by R. H. Ingersoll of New York.
Originally published in the May 2025 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2025 Maine Antique Digest
