Campaign buttons, described recently in The Star, are comparatively new features in political warfare. They have made their appearance in recent years. They were preceded by the badge, but before these was the campaign medal, some of which were as famous in the political history of the country as certain utterances of famous men.

These political emblems go back further than the period of Jackson's administration, but there are few older than those of that period in existence. They became a little more plentiful in the campaigns of Jackson, and grew in abundance. There were more in the Harrison campaign of 1840 than in any of the others. So much of the details has been written of that memorable campaign and its incidents that it is unnecessary to repeat them.

The most notable of all the ante-bellum campaigns, however, was that of 1860. The campaign medal figured as conspicuously then as the button does now, and there were hundreds of designs. An interesting fact is that the medals contained more mottoes and more inscriptions than the buttons of recent years. The pictures of the candidates figure more extensively, with now and then an inscription appropriate to the party or the man.

At the National Museum is a collection of these relics, but it is doubtful if the collection is any more valuable or extensive than that owned by Col. William Leggett Bramhall.

Col. Bramhall is the vice president of the National Union of Republican Clubs. He is as ardent an admirer of McKinley as he was of the great man who was first put at the head of the republican party. He believes that there are many similarities in this campaign and in the one in which Lincoln was first chosen President.

Col. Bramhall designed a number of the medals for the Lincoln campaign and that accounts for his collection, although he is noted for his collection of valuable coins and other works of art in that line.

The campaign medals of the times gone by were made in the shape of the coins of that time. They bore the busts of candidates and inscriptions. The customary way of displaying them was to bore a hole in them, through which a ribbon was run and attached to the wearer's coat or waistcoat, as he preferred. The medals were made from dies, like the coin of the country. They were made of different materials-the brighter ones of block tin; the darker ones of brass and copper.

Occasionally a nickel-plated one would be found, and once in a while one of silver would make its appearance. The medals were turned out, like the buttons of today, by manufacturers, for sale to enthusiastic partisans. In the Lincoln campaign the manufacturers all made money because of so many candidates in the field and because of the intense interest. Nearly everybody wore a medal then and there was no difficulty in telling how a man stood.

The nearest approach to a button in the Lincoln campaign was a medal-like affair, which held in place tin-type photographs of the candidates. Lincoln and his running mate, Hannibal Hamlin, were pictured on opposite sides of the republican medal. The names under the pictures were all the reading matter on the medals. The pictures were good. The same manufacturer also turned out these things for the other parties, presenting Douglas and Johnson, Breckinridge and Lane and Bell and Everett.

One of the first buttons of the Lincoln campaign was the size of a cent of that day. The bust on the obverse side was obtained from a profile picture sent to Col. Bramhall. Around the bust was "Abraham Lincoln. Natus Feb. 12, 1809." On the reverse side was this: "Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe of the West. The Hannibal of America. 1860." This was changed later, and in place of the inscription on the reverse side "Wideawakes" was put in its place. History tells of the "Wideawakes."

It was an organization of marching clubs, formed in the interest of Lincoln. The first one was organized at Hartford, Conn., which got out a unique medal of its own. The members of the Hartford Wideawakes wore oilcloth capes and caps and carried torches. The officers carried a cane and a lantern. One side of the medal of the Hartford men contained a picture of a marching member and his torch, and this inscription: "Organized March 3, 1860." The other side pictures the officer and his cane and lantern, with the inscription "Hartford Wideawakes."

In the same campaign the Douglas democrats organized the "Little Giants," a rival organization of the "Wideawakes." The uniform of the Giants was of orange color. That organization also had its medals.

A republican medal of that time bore an inscription which has gone into history. The medal was of the size and color of a gold half eagle. The inscription on one side was "Millions for freedom. Not one cent for slavery, 1860," a paraphrase of the famous "Millions for defense," etc. The other side bore the imprint of an eagle with outstretched wings and "Success to republican principles."

The Douglas democrats had a medal bearing a bust of their nominee, with his name on one side, and on the other this inscription: "Intervention is Disunion. 1860. M. Y. O. B." Voters of that campaign still living will remember the meaning of M. Y. O. B.-mind your own business.

A larger Douglas medal bore the bust and name, and on the reverse side, "Popular sovereignty. National Union."

A very catchy republican medal contained, besides the usual bust, name, etc., this inscription: "Protection to American industry. Free homes for free men."

One of the prettiest of all the medals was the "Lincoln rail splitter." It was emblematic of Lincoln's humble origin and the fact that he was a man of the people. His name and bust ornamented one side, and on the other is seen Lincoln splitting rails near the little log cabin of his early days. Over this are the words, "Rail splitter of the west."

A medal of the Bell men contained bust and name of party on one side and on the other "The Constitution and the Union now and forever."

Among the larger Lincoln medals was one with the bust and name, with this on the obverse side: "`The people's choice, Lincoln and Hamlin. Freedom and protection." Another of block tin had on the obverse side the following: "Free territory for a free people. Let liberty be national and slavery sectional."

The Lincoln rail splitter medal was something like the Harrison medal in 1840. That medal contained a poor bust of Gen. Harrison, with his name and date of birth on the obverse side. The reverse side contained the famous log cabin and barrel of hard cider, with this inscription: "The people's choice. The hero of Tippecanoe."

When Buchanan was elected in 1856 the sectional issue was running at full blast which is reflected in the inscriptions on the medals of that day. One of these bore Buchanan's bust and name, and "No sectionalism," with the American eagle on the back. In the same campaign the Fremont men were not medalless. One of their medals contained Fremont's bust and name and the inscription, "Free soil and free speech."