Thursday, April 29, 2010

'Let's Build a Squadron of Dirigibles in Lenin's Name'

No, I'm not running for office. (And I'm not sure what kind of office one runs for with dirigibles.) In fact, the above slogan was one of the catchiest ones in an exhibit I saw in 2005.

Hosted at the Cantor Arts Center, this was a show of political posters lent by the Hoover Institution. There were wartime exhortations ("Lend your strong right arm to your country"), protests, and Norman Rockwell images, all drawn from the expansive archives.

Now the posters have hit the big time. I mean, the really big time.
"Antiques Roadshow."

On May 24 at 8 p.m., the program airing on KQED will focus on Hoover. The episode is described thusly: "Mark L. Walberg and appraiser Nicholas Lowry visit Stanford University's Hoover Institution and its huge collection of political posters to discuss the origins of Uncle Sam."

While there, the "Antiques" folks zero in on a particularly valuable find that has nothing to do with posters. Maybe they got lost in the halls. If so, that was a productive meandering, because they found three Great Basin baskets crafted in Nevada. The "conservative" auction estimate: $60,000-$75,000. Cha-ching!

By the way, you can click
here to search the Hoover's database of political posters. Fascinating stuff.

Pictured: The three Great Basin baskets. Photo courtesy of "Antiques Roadshow."

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