Women's Suffrage Memorabilia 1890-1917

Although a few examples of suffrage memorabilia, primarily sheet music and lithographed prints, can be found soon after the first Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls in 1848, we have to look to the 1890’s for any significant appearance of collectible artifacts related to the movement. Modern production methods led to an age of consumerism and the increasing ability of Americans to purchase objects that were not absolutely necessary to sustain their daily lives, such as tokens, souvenir spoons, and commemorative photography. The real golden age of “Votes for Women” memorabilia, however, was not to occur until the period between 1908 and 1917.

American activists learned from their English sisters how to merchandise suffrage products as fundraisers and to draw women into the excitement of the movement. Through parades and other types of demonstrations, suffragists added a visual form of rhetoric to a message that previously had been conveyed primarily through lectures and printed materials. That new form of persuasion was significantly augmented through such products as buttons, post cards, ribbons and sashes, poster stamps, and ceramics. WWI, however, had an obvious impact on the enthusiasm of suffragists to produce memorabilia.