GREENWICH VILLAGE — A local auction house will display an exhibit of ephemera from early presidential campaigns on Thursday, giving curious history buffs the chance to see the goods before they go to auction on Friday.
Roland Auctions, at 80 E. 11th St., will show the highlights picked from nearly 200 pieces of campaign material for presidents Washington through Lincoln, all part of the collection of Alan York, a collector.
Hailing from the days before a presidential candidate (or anyone) could tweet, the items include campaign pins for Abraham Lincoln, a poster for the campaign of Martin Van Buren, and a small ornamental box extolling the liberty-loving virtues of George Washington.
The auction is one of many planned for the estate of York, a Long Island optometrist and collector who rubbed elbows with the likes of Jackson Pollack and Kurt Vonnegut and who died in 2014. In addition to the early campaign materials, York’s collection also includes reconstruction-era and modern presidential campaign ephemera, Soviet and American Space medals, and general all-American collectibles.
The items will be on display from 10 a.m. through 7 p.m. on Thursday, and will go to the auction block starting at 11 a.m. on Friday.
