Billy Possum President Taft I\'m Having a High Old Time artist signed Crite 1909
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Billy Possum President Taft I\'m Having a High Old Time artist signed Crite 1909:
$16.49
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Beginning next week and until mid-January Iwill be cutting back on my sales so we all can spend more time withfamily and friends. My sale site mayeven be “dark” for a week or so in mid-December. For those who may suffer circus, expo orpossum withdrawal, I will list a few postcards just to give you something tolook at.
Postcard of Billy Possum \"I\'m Having A High Old Time; Couldn\'t Possumbly Be Higher!\", showing a dancing possum with a hot air balloon in background. Artist signed by Crite, published by HVS Lithograph Company. Crite artwork is produced on two Billy Possum Series, each contains 12 postcards, one series is identifiable with blue border and one identifiable with red border. Color printed 1909, used 1909. Condition is very good near very good+, fresh color, faint bend on bottom right corner tip, this is as good a condition as one is likely to find for this series.Billy Possum is thecaricature of William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States. The postcardsof the 1909-1910 era are considered in the political area of collecting. There are several stories about this caricatureand its history, some conflicting. Thegeneral consensus is that after his election as President (beating DemocratWilliam Jennings Bryant), but before his inauguration, the Billy Possumcaricature began. Its roots are tracedback to Taft’s attendance in January 1909 at a banquet in Atlanta Georgia where a large possum and taters (potatoes) wereserved. The next day, Taft expressed tothe press his pleasure of dining on possum the night before. A cartoon then appeared in the AtlantaConstitution newspaper showing Taft holding a possum that says to Teddy Roosevelt“Beat it Teddy Bear”. It is alsoimportant to note that cuddly stuffed animals were very popular at this time,especially the Teddy Bear attributed to Theodore Roosevelt’s popularity. A wide range of Billy Possum postcards,books, banks, coins, buttons, stuffed animals, and other memorabilia wereoffered in the commercial market in hopes of dislodging the Teddy Bear image. Little of this memorabilia was released after1910, as both the possum and Taft lacked the appeal of the Teddy Bear and Roosevelt. Even shorter lived was JimmiePossum, named after James Sherman, Taft’s Vice President.
This is1 of many Billy Possum postcards that I will be offering on as I amselling my 35-year collection ofpostcards. Abbreviations: rppc = real photo postcard,est. = estimate my best guess, used = postal used, unused = not postal used but may have written message. Winner pays$1.85 postage and handling cost. Multiple sale wins on a combined invoice and paid with a single combined PayPal payment, and shipped together in 1 package will receive a reduction in total postage cost when possible.
Billy Possum President Taft I\'m Having a High Old Time artist signed Crite 1909:
$16.49