19th Century Political and Patriotic Memorabilia

This is a cotton, machine-sewn flag with 13 double-appliqued stars. The canton of this flag has stars arranged in a highly desirable medallion pattern, with a single circle of eight ...

38 Star Antique American Flag with Hand-sewn Stars in an 8-7-8-7-8 Pattern of Justified Rows, Made in the Period When Colorado was the Most Recent State to Join The Union, 1876-1889: 38 star American national flag, with pencil-inscribed names of a child and his uncle, who resided together at one point near Lake Erie, west of Cleveland, Ohio. The stars of the flag are made of cotton, hand-sewn, and double-appliquéd (applied to both sides) of the blue canton. These are arranged in justified lineal rows in counts of 8-7-8-7-8, which is a traditional format for the 38 star count, and all of the stars are oriented in an upright position on their vertical axis (i.e., with one point up). The stripes and canton of the flag are made of wool bunting that has been pieced with treadle stitching, typical of the period. Because wool bunting was only available in a maximum width of eighteen inches, the canton is constructed from two lengths of blue fabric. There is a twill cotton binding along the hoist, with two brass grommets. Colorado became the 38th state on August 1st, 1876. This was the year of our nation’s 100-year anniversary of independence. Per the Third Flag Act of 1818, stars were not officially added until the 4th of July following a state's addition. For this reason, 37 was the official star count for the American flag in 1876. Flag-making was a competitive venture, however, and few flag-makers would have been continuing to produce 37 star flags when their competitors were making 38’s. It is for this reason that 38 and 13 stars (to represent the original 13 colonies) are more often seen at the Centennial International Exposition, the six-month long World’s Fair held in Philadelphia in honor of the event. Some flag-makers would have been adding a star for the 38th state even before it entered the Union, in the early part of 1876 or even prior. In fact, many makers of parade flags were actually producing 39 star flags, in hopeful anticipation of the addition of two more Western Territories instead of one. But the 39th state would not join the Union for another 13 years, when the Dakota Territory entered as two states (numbers 39 and 40) on the same day, November 2nd, 1889. On the reverse of the binding there are three penciled inscriptions, "Dawson," "Taggart," and "Bill Ryals." Although separated, the first two names actually go together, although the connection is not as one might expect. William (Bill) J. Ryals (b. 12/20/1928) was 11 years old and enrolled at school in the 4th grade when he appears on the 1940 census record, living with parents Corning D. Ryals (1896-1965) and Janet T. Ryals (1894-1957). The "T" in Janet's name almost certainly stood for "Taggart," as her given name on her Marriage certificate...

13 STARS IN A 3-2-3-2-3 LINEAL CONFIGURATION, ON A LARGE SCALE ANTIQUE AMERICAN FLAG MADE DURING THE LAST DECADE OF THE 19TH CENTURY: 13 star American national flag, dating to the l...

38 STARS IN CRUDE COLUMNS WITH HAPHAZARD ORIENTATION, ON AN ANTIQUE AMERICAN FLAG WITH A BEAUTIFUL, SLATE BLUE CANTON, SIGNED "LEDDON," MADE IN THE ERA WHEN COLORADO WAS THE MOST RECENT STATE TO JOIN THE UNION, 1876-1889 38 star American flag...

38 STARS ON A CORNFLOWER BLUE CANTON, ARRANGED IN AN EXTREMELY INTERESTING VERSION OF A MEDALLION CONFIGURATION THAT INCORPORATES A DISTINCT SALTIRE, A BEAUTIFUL HOMEMADE FLAG OF THE...

38 hand sewn Stars In An Unusually Confined Pattern Of Justified Rows, On An Antique Flag In An Especially Small Scale For The Period, 1876-1889, Colorado Statehood: 38 star Ameri...

31 STARS IN A MEDALLION PATTERN ON AN ELONGATED, HOMEMADE FLAG WITH A VERTICALLY-ORIENTED CANTON AND EXCEPTIONAL FOLK QUALITIES, PRE-CIVIL WAR, CALIFORNIA STATEHOOD, 1850-1858 31 s...

13 STAR ANTIQUE AMERICAN FLAG, A U.S. NAVY SMALL BOAT ENSIGN WITH ENORMOUS HAND-SEWN STARS, IN A REMARKABLE STATE OF PRESERVATION, CIRCA 1890-1899: Despite the fact that America hasn't been comprised of 13 states since 1791, 13 star flags have been made and displayed throughout our nation's history, seemingly without pause, from 1777 to the present. The reasons for their manufacture are many, with functions both patriotic and utilitarian. They were hoisted at patriotic events, including Lafayette’s visit in 1824-25, the celebration of the centennial of American independence in 1876, and the sesquicentennial in 1926. They were displayed during the Civil War (1861-65) to reference past struggles for American liberty, and were used by 19th century politicians while campaigning for the same reason. As the number of stars grew with the addition of new states, it became more and more difficult to fit their full complement on a small flag. The stars would, by necessity, have to become smaller, which made it more and more difficult to view them from a distance. The fear was that too many of them close together would become as one white mass and potentially distort the ability to identify American ships. Keeping the count low allowed for better visibility and for this reason the U.S. Navy flew 13 star flags on small craft. Flag experts disagree about the precisely when the Navy began to revert to the 13 star count (and occasionally other low counts) for these "small boat ensigns," as they were termed. Some feel that their use never ceased, which seems to be supported by depictions of ships in period artwork, but it wasn't formally specified until 1854, when first appeared in naval regulations. 13 was, of course, the original number of stars on the first American national flag, by way of the First Flag Act (1777), and equal to the number of original colonies that became states. Because any American flag that has previously been official remains so today, according to the flag acts, it remains perfectly acceptable to fly 13 star flags by way of congressional law. U.S. Navy small boat ensigns were flown at the stern, from a gaff, or from the yard-arm on a larger vessel, or as the primary flag on a skiff or other small craft that carried sailors back and forth to shore. The particular example that is the subject of this narrative was made during the 1890's. The stars are rather enormous in scale when compared to most of its counterparts of other time periods. Made of cotton, these are hand-sewn and double-appliquéd (applied to both sides of the blue canton), and are configured into rows of 3-2-3-2-3. The canton and stripes are made of wool bunting and have been joined with treadle stitching. The rectangular wool patches at the top and bottom of the hoist are called gussets. These are original to the flag's construction and were added for reinforcement at the points where it was subject to the most wear. The coarse linen binding along the hoist, golden tan in color, is indicative of the Navy's flags in this period and shortly thereafter. The filament of blue thread that runs vertically through the fabric aided in measurement of the cloth. While this can often be encountered in sailcloth, it is fairly unusual in linen of this sort and adds a nice, if subtle, element to the flag's visual presentation. Although they acquired flags from commercial makers when the need presented itself, the Navy generally made its own flags. Around 1884 they began stenciling them with black pigment along the hoist, specifying the date and location of manufacture. This did not occur with regularity until the 1890's, but is sometimes present in 1880's examples. Most Navy flags of this era have brass grommets. This flag is peculiar because it has neither a stencil or grommets. The binding is constructed as an open sleeve, through which a rope could be passed and stitched into place for hoisting. There are no markings at all along it, save for at the extreme bottom on the obverse, where, in small text, there appears to be a letter "C," followed by "XX," inscribed with a dip pen. A numeral, followed by one or two X's, often denotes the length of the flag in feet when measured on the fly, but here the notation remains unknown. During the period in which this flag was made, Naval regulations specified that the largest variety of 13 star small boat ensign measured 3.52 feet on the hoist x 6.67 feet on the fly. While the length of this example is almost spot-on, at 6.65 feet (less than an inch in variance), the height of 3.83 feet is almost 4 inches taller than expected. In my experience, this is not unusual. Regulations seem to have been loosely followed at best, and it's remarkable, given the combination of human error and the propensity of wool to shrink, that the length is so close. Despite the lack of grommets or markings, the construction is otherwise precisely what I would expect of a U.S. Navy flag and it's readily identifiable as a product of U.S. Navy production. Since there was no official star configuration until the 20th century, (1912 specifically,) the stars on 13 star flags may appear in any one of a host of configurations. The 3-2-3-2-3 pattern begins to appear on U.S. Navy flags at the tail end of the Civil War. In addition, it is the most often encountered pattern across 13 star flags, with pieced-and-sewn construction, that were made during the latter half of the 19th century. In 1882, the scale of the stars changed. These became significantly larger and their orientation was, for the first time, fixed. The stars in the first row were oriented with one point up, followed by the second row, with one point oriented down, alternating throughout the pattern, as can be seen in this example. I have always like this feature, which in this case adds a strong visual element to flag that already has ample graphic impact. In most cases the 3-2-3-2-3 design can also be viewed as a diamond of stars, with a star in each corner and a star in the very center. It is of interest to note that the pattern can also be interpreted as a combination of the cross of St. Andrew and the cross of St. George, which some feel could have been the configuration on the very first American flag, possibly representing a link between this star pattern and the British Union Jack. The arrangement is often attributed--albeit erroneously, in my opinion--to New Jersey Senator Francis Hopkinson, a member of the Second Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hopkinson is credited with having played the most significant role of any person in the design of the American flag, but his original drawings have not survived. Further, while he is known to have depicted arrangements of 13 stars on other objects, such as various seals and colonial currencies...

42 STARS IN AN HOURGLASS PATTERN ON AN ANTIQUE AMERICAN FLAG, AN UNOFFICIAL STAR COUNT, WASHINGTON STATEHOOD, 1889-1890: Early American national flag with 42 stars, configured in ro...

33 STARS IN A "GREAT STAR" OR "GREAT LUMINARY" PATTERN ON A HOMEMADE FLAG WITH A BEAUTIFUL, GLAZED COTTON CANTON, 1859-1861, PRE-CIVIL WAR THROUGH WAR PERIOD, OREGON STATEHOOD : Ent...

45 STARS IN LINEAR ROWS, WITH “DANCING” OR “TUMBLING” ORIENTATION, ON A LARGE SCALE PARADE FLAG WITH AN ELONGATED PROFILE, 1896-1908, SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR ERA, UTAH STATEHOOD: 45 s...

13 STARS IN A 3-2-3-2-3 LINEAL CONFIGURATION ON A LARGE SCALE FLAG MADE DURING THE LAST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY: 13 star American national flag, made sometime between the nat...