“V” can stand for “victory.” Or, with two fingers, it represents “peace.” But in this case, it’s the letter we’re up to in trying to decipher unknown campaign buttons.
As our fellow political junkies know, for some time now we’ve been showing photos of unknown buttons, arranged alphabetically by candidate names, for you to help identify. We can’t make heads or tails of these candidates, most of whom we’ve never heard of. And when we see a “Smith for Congress” or a “Jones for Senator” button, how do we know which Smith or which Jones? So we’ve been posting pictures of these buttons, hoping you will have the answer. Often, you have come through, which is most appreciated.
We’re approaching the end of the alphabet. (Check out our previous “Who Dats”: Unknowns beginning with the Letter A, Letter B, two pages for Letter C (here and here), Letter D, Letter E, Letter F, Letter G, Letter H, Letter I, Letter J, Letter K, Letter L, Letter M, Letter N, Letter O, Letter P, Letter R, two parts for Letter S (here and here), and Letter T. Let the record show we don’t have enough unknown Q or U candidates to list. We even have one showing of buttons with pictures only — no names. That’s even harder to decipher.
But there’s an additional problem with these V candidates. For example, is the last name of the Van Dusen button shown below “Dusen” or “Van Dusen?” It’s a doozy, as you can see. But they’re listed here under V.
So, can you help? The “Valle” button may be Washington State. And we suspect the “Rudolph Valentino” may not be political. Any idea on who these V candidates R? Thanks!
von Dreele Republican Hudson Co. NJ 1901
I’d love to take a shot at this, but I can’t get the jpg to display. . . .
Here’s some info on Richard Van Dusen of Michigan, who was elected state rep. in 1954 and was the GOP nominee for attorney general in 1956, if that helps.
https://findingaids.lib.umich.edu/catalog/umich-bhl-85527