1888 Grover Cleveland and Thurman Enameled Horseshoe Lapel Stud DeWitt GC 1888-50 Copper

An 1888 Democratic campaign lapel stud for Grover Cleveland and Allen G. Thurman, enameled copper at about 17 mm, cataloged as DeWitt GC 1888-50. A white enameled horseshoe reading CLEVELAND THURMAN encloses a blue four leaf clover with the date beneath, all against a red enamel field. The reverse is marked JOHN FRICK N.Y., which is unusual: most campaign jewelry of the period carries no maker at all. Two pieces of luck stacked on one lapel did not help. Cleveland won more votes than Benjamin Harrison and lost the electoral college, and Thurman, seventy-five years old and visibly unwell through the campaign, never took the office. Cleveland came back and won it four years later.