Gibsonia man to share presidential pieces
A Gibsonia man with a predilection for presidential campaigns memorabilia will share more than 50 years of experience as a collector and historical buff with visitors Saturday sponsored by the Butler County Historical Society.
Steve Mihaly, 62, is a retired vice president of HJ Heinz Co., in Pittsburgh, but since Mihaly was 10 he's been wearing another hat: collector and historian of the trinkets and baubles presidential candidates use to market themselves to voters.
That passion has led Mihaly to amass a collection of more than 20,000 pieces of campaign memorabilia — from unusual items like a Richard Nixon showerhead and a bar of soap bearing the likeness of Dwight D. Eisenhower to the buttons, yard signs and bumper stickers more commonly associated with contemporary political campaigns.
On Saturday, Mihaly will take visitors on a journey through the history of political memorabilia, in a presentation titled “Marketing the presidency.”
He will speak at 6:30 p.m., at the YWCA, 120 W. Cunningham St., Butler,
Mihaly said people will be shocked at how far back the concept of campaign marketing goes. His collection physically traces it back to James Monroe, the country's fifth president, and a campaign snuffbox that asked people to support The Monroe Doctrine.
“it shows that roughly 150 years ago, Monroe was producing trinkets to the general public that say 'hey, support my ideas',” Mihaly said.
Mihaly's presentation will track those types of moments in the evolution of campaign memorabilia — including the 1896 presidential race between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryant.
That year is significant, Mihaly said, because it is the first time buttons were used to market candidates. They couldn't possibly have been used before then, he said, because they hadn't been invented yet. The candidates, seized the moment, but had to tackle the question of how to get the items out to voters.
“Essentially there are no cars; there are no planes. How do you market yourself?” Mihaly said. “They actually sent the buttons in packages of tobacco and gum. That's what really kicked it all off.”From there, Mihaly said, presidential marketing kicked into high gear, as presidents like Theodore Roosevelt achieved the kind of national celebrity status managed by few of their predecessors.Contemporary campaigns take the marketing push to the extreme. Mihaly has more than 1,200 different buttons from just the 1992 and 1996 campaigns of Bill Clinton.“That just goes to show how much money these campaigns pour into their candidates,” Mihaly said. “Tens of millions of dollars would not be an exaggeration.”Most political campaigns these days focus on visible and easily deliverable items like yard signs and bumper stickers, Mihaly said, though buttons, clothing and other items are also all common — though he sees the quality of the marketing itself fading from years past.“Pieces that are produced for the current races are usually much larger; they're usually more of a marketing piece,” Mihaly said. “and quite frankly I don't think they're as clever as pieces from 50 or more years ago.”The program is free, but visitors must register by calling 724-283-8116 or e-mailing society@butlerhistory.com and including the number of people in the party.
