Great Republican Harrison and Morton campaign ball, 1888
Cabinet photograph of a 14-foot-diameter, 42-foot-circumference campaign ball painted in bands and lettered with verses, held by men with poles. The mount credits D. E. Brockett of Cumberland, Maryland, as designer and builder and Wm. B. Holmes of New York as publisher. A rolling ball that must be kept in motion presents the campaign as momentum (bandwagon), and the mount's verse, "Old Allegany in 1840 started the ball for Harrison", ties the 1888 candidate to the 1840 campaign (transfer).
- Date
- 1888
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- D. E. Brockett, Cumberland, Md. (designer and builder); Wm. B. Holmes, New York (publisher)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Photograph
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Cleveland Administration
- Leader
- Grover Cleveland
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Event
- 1888 US Election
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain by age (published 1888); LOC rights advisory: No known restrictions on publication
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.
Text on the object
Visible on the ball: [...] Cleveland, You must face defeat, / [...] up Your old Bandanna; / You cannot beat Our Candidate / Who hails from INDIANA. / [...] to keep the STARRY FLAG, [...] the UNION over. / With dauntless heart [...] But where [...]. Printed on the mount: D. E. BROCKETT, CUMBERLAND, MD. DESIGNER AND BUILDER. / WM. B. HOLMES, PUBLISHER, 775 BROADWAY, N. Y. / GREAT REPUBLICAN HARRISON AND MORTON CAMPAIGN BALL, 1888. / "Old Allegany in 1840 / Started the ball for Harrison; / In '88 as they did then, / We roll it on for Gallant Ben. / Roll along, Roll away," / Keep the ball in motion; / The spirit of our men is up / From Rocky Hills to Ocean." / Circumference, 42 feet. Diameter, 14 feet. / (Copyright 1888.)
Lettering on the curved ball is partly hidden or foreshortened; those lines are marked [...]. The mount text is as printed (the first letters of 'We' are damaged in the original).
