Brattlecast #88 - Electoral Collectibles

As the 2020 presidential election looms on the horizon, we’re taking a look at some collectible ephemera from past elections, like campaign literature written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and an unused ballot from the 1994 South African election in which Nelson Mandela was elected president. We’ll also explore some of the most negative campaigns in American history, including one so vicious that it may have been responsible for the death of Andrew Jackson’s wife. Finally, we’ll speculate on which uniquely cursed items from this year, such as the “Settle for Biden” face mask, may be of interest to future collectors and historians.