While pop singer Madonna created a whole generation of "material girls" in the 1980s, an earlier 20th century icon inspired the "political girls" of the 1950s. During the 1952 presidential campaign, "Ike girls," attired in red and white designer "Ike" dresses, toured the nation on six official Citizens for Eisenhower Bandwagons. One of these dresses, along with coordinating accessories, such as "I Like Ike" stockings and a rhinestone-studded brooch, is now on display in an exhibition of political Americana titled "Vote!" at Cornell University's Kroch Library.

Organized in celebration of the 2000 presidential election, "VOTE!" is an exhibition of campaign memorabilia from the Susan Havey Douglas Collection of Political Americana in the library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. The exhibition is on view in the Kroch Library gallery, level 2B, until March 16, 2001. An opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 2, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The gallery is open Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays, 1 to 5 p.m.

Cornell Library acquired the Douglas Collection of Political Americana from an individual collector in 1957. It includes approximately 5,500 items dating from 1789 to 1960 and is notable for its range and variety of content. From buttons and badges to posters and prints and souvenirs, such as plates, cups and games, these objects of political propaganda are lively, colorful and appealing.

During the 19th century, American politics was transformed from a primarily elite concern to the focus of massive popular excitement. Broadened rights of suffrage, political parties, nominating conventions, electoral machinery and electioneering made elections truly popular in nature. Beginning in the late 1820s, public participation and dramatic spectacle characterized political life. Men, women and children joined in fireworks, parades and demonstrations.

Limited literacy and an increasing demand for popular entertainment led many Americans to make their election choices based on visual or oral messages, rather than newspaper editorials or party platforms.

Objects, graphics and printed ephemera expand and illuminate the more conventional documentary sources on American political history. Campaign memorabilia are a particularly rich resource. Through their images and text, design and materials, they offer direct access to an important aspect of the lives of everyday people. Beyond the immediate goals of promoting presidential candidates and their parties, these campaign objects speak their own language. While they often incorporate words, they primarily convey visual images with strong emotional overtones and social implications that transcend verbal communication.

For more than 150 years, presidential campaigns relied partly on material objects to attract votes. Every election has inspired and made use of objects for partisan purposes, although recent campaigns have produced few souvenirs comparable in appeal to those on view in the "Vote" exhibition. Given that political campaigns in the past two decades have been conducted largely through abbreviated news stories and mudslinging television and print ads, these mementos provide a timely, refreshing and often humorous link to a kinder, gentler era of presidential elections.