"Yankee Doodle" "1776" by Archibald M. Willard(1836 - 1918)

Presented is a rare Centennial patriotic flag banner, dating to 1876. The flag’s brilliant blue canton is spectacular, with 81 five-pointed, rayed stars, arranged to read “1776” and “1876.” The flag’s design is completed with thirteen alternating red and white stripes. The flag is a three-piece, treadle-sewn sewn construction, printed on a thin wool and cotton blend. Along the edge, there is a narrow, treadle-sewn sleeve made of cotton tape. In the lead up to the nation’s Centennial in 1876, flag makers and individuals looked to the past for designs to produce as part of the country’s many celebrations. Popular interpretation of the stars and stripes undoubtedly reached its climax of variety and originality at the time of our Nation’s first Centennial. Since no design restrictions were placed on flagmaker’s imaginations and no strict distinctions were drawn between official and unofficial star counts, it is no surprise that, on the occasion of the Centennial, creativity in flag design was not the exception, but the rule. The cantons from this period presented an array of geometric abstractions. Great star patterns, referred to as the “starry flower of Liberty” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, that were popular from 1818 and on, resurfaced in Centennial flags...

DRAMATIC, CIRCULAR FLAG FAN OF UNCOMMONLY HUGE SIZE, WITH UNUSUAL CONSTRUCTION, MADE IN THE WWI ERA (1917-18), CAREFULLY CONSERVED AND PRESENTED IN A DEEP, CUSTOM-MADE SHADOWBOX Thi...

Presented is a U.S. shield patriotic printed paddle fan from 1918. The blue chief is printed with thirteen white stars. Below, thirteen vertical pales are printed in alternating red ...

EXCEPTIONAL RED CROSS BANNER WITH WHIMSICAL LETTERING AND A TERRIFIC SLOGAN, WWI (U.S. INVOLVEMENT 1917-18), ONE OF APPROXIMATELY THREE EXAMPLES PRESENTLY IDENTIFIED EXCEPTIONAL RED CROSS BANNER WITH WHIMSICAL LETTERING AND A TERRIFIC SLOGAN, WWI (U.S. INVOLVEMENT 1917-18), ONE OF APPROXIMATELY THREE EXAMPLES PRESENTLY IDENTIFIED Web ID: pat-742 Available: In Stock Frame Size (H x L): 34.5" x 48.75" Flag Size (H x L): 21.75" x 36" Description: Made during the First World War, this extraordinary banner of the American Red Cross, printed on plain weave cotton, is a gem among surviving textiles commissioned for the organization. Even though it wasn't exactly produced as such, the banner is a fantastic piece of American folk art, with the combination of words, and visual impact forcing it soundly into this category. Some years ago, I acquired one of the very same type. At that point in time, I had not before seen its equal. Bowled over by the exceptional graphics in its varied styles of lettering—more like what you see during the 19th century than the 20th, I could find nothing of similar quality in my associated research. In fact, there was barely anything vintage or antique with imagery much beyond the generic scarlet cross on a white ground. The verbiage is undeniably great: "The Red Cross Needs You; Join Now; Be Patriotic--Be Humane." Today I know of one other, in addition to this example and the one I sold previously, for a total of three. I have also seen a variation on the basic design, not as dynamic but similar, reproduced for the television series “Gilded Age.” Displayed behind the actress who plays Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross, it has the same text at the top and in the middle, though the fonts are not quite as strong, but along the bottom, the slogan “Be Patriotic--Be Humane” is replaced by “Answer the Call.” The first example of this banner that I acquired a fine, blue, hand-sewn binding around the perimeter, and 4 sets of long, red, cotton ties, hand-sewn to the top edge and distributed along it. Because these were so incredibly graphic in their own right, and what they collectively added to the presentation of a banner that looks way more like 19th century printed advertising than something from the 20th, I elected to up the ante, if you will, seeking out red and blue, antique cotton...