Anti-Suffrage Society Official Memorabilia

Although well funded, particularly by the liquor industry which feared that Votes for Women would lead to Prohibition, the anti-suffrage movement produced little in the way of memorabilia, even though a few pieces do exist in the form of buttons, a celluloid stamp holder, a fan or two, a pennant, and a piece of sheet music entitled “My Anti-Suffrage Rose.” One explanation given for this lack of production was that the anti-forces did not want to follow the lead of their opposition, imitating those whose ideas they feared and despised.

The official color of the "Anti's" was red (sometimes pink), and you can see that color appearing on the objects pictured in this illustration. Anti-suffrage memorabilia for the most part lacked both the imagination and intensity of its pro-suffrage counterparts. Negativity at times represses creativity. Even though the anti-forces did not produce much in the way of memorabilia, commercial sources picked up the slack, and hostile portrayals of suffragists found their way into post cards, sheet music, and ceramic figures.