Claire Jerry, Ph.D., is a political history curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. She oversees a collection of some 130,000 pieces of election merch and campaign memorabilia dating back to the beginnings of American politics, and she was kind enough to join the show to talk about it.
In an episode recorded in early March, Claire told us about some of the most interesting (and terrifying) items in the collection, and how trends in election merch act as historical markers for the political climate of a given era. She also discussed some current merchandise trends she’s seen on the campaign trail as the U.S. gears up for the 2020 presidential election.
Plus, Sean and Brendan talk about some notable recent campaign merch, including a “Sexy Joe Biden” T-shirt and some new items from the Trump Campaign.
This episode is sponsored by BIC Graphic!
