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Dunedin Museum Presenting Political 'Relics Of The Moment'

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST

Dunedin City Manager Rob DiSpirito's collection of political memorabilia is now on display at the Dunedin Historical Museum.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: February 28, 2009

The question of who was U.S. President James Garfield's opponent in the presidential election of 1880 is not the most pressing for most people - unless you are Dunedin City Manager Robert "Rob" DiSpirito or Dunedin Historical Museum Executive Director Vincent "Vinnie" Luisi.

The question recently popped up when DiSpirito was giving a tour of the museum's current exhibit of his extensive campaign memorabilia. He realized he had forgotten Garfield's opponent and would not rest until he had consulted fellow history buff Luisi. The two finally settled on Winfield Hancock.

That was not the first time the two put their political heads together. Their first collaborative effort is now at the museum. Inspired by the 2008 election campaign, Luisi wanted a display centering on American politics and turned to DiSpirito for help.

These days, DiSpirito and Luisi are in a political buff's heaven with the museum's exhibit of DiSpirito's extensive collection of political memorabilia. DiSpirito began the collection in 1972, when he was in the eighth grade in Slippery Rock, Pa.

Luisi chipped in a few items, and Dunedin resident Bill Coleman donated an authentic punch-card voting machine from Palm Beach County that was used in the infamous 2000 presidential election. Organizers even managed to find a few chads from somewhere in the machine and put them on display with the machine.

Visitors can also watch old campaign commercials - much longer than today's brief sound bites - and 1960's Kennedy-Nixon debate. The rest of the display consists of DiSpirito's election memorabilia. His collection fills the room - and he still has much more left over at home, he notes.

One of the oldest items is a pair of molded glass plates from the 1840 campaign of William Henry Harrison. Harrison, of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too" fame, was the ninth U.S. president but didn't have long to enjoy his presidency. He died in office of pneumonia on his 32nd day in office and was replaced by Vice President John Tyler.

Coins minted by the political parties and medals with candidates' names and pictures were the forerunners of today's campaign pins. DiSpirito has a number of samples, beginning with those of Millard Fillmore, president from 1850 to 1853.

Posters have always been popular. The display has samples from former presidents, including an 1848 poster of Zachary Taylor, president from 1849 to1850. Taylor's was another short-lived presidency. The president died of gastroenteritis after having served only 16 months. Taylor was thought to have become sick after eating tainted cherries, DiSpirito notes.

Without today's modern communication systems, the candidates had to be quick to reach voters. "Lives and Speeches of Abe Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin," a full-sized book, was published in the few months between the convention and the election. Hamlin was Lincoln's vice president during his first term.

"Back in the days when there was not mass media, this was one of the few ways to educate about the candidates," DiSpirito notes.

Most of the items in his collection were inexpensive, the city manager says. He has picked up a number of them in sales of old paper, flea markets and junk shops. There, he always checks the jewelry section, where he has found campaign jewelry.

Campaign memorabilia deserves a better fate than junk shops, he says. "These things evoke a certain amount of passion," DiSpirito says. "They are relics of the moment."

The exhibit will run through June at the Dunedin Historical Museum, 349 Main St., Dunedin. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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