Deck of playing cards

Object Number: 
2017.16.1
Date: 
2016
Medium: 
Laminated paper and plastic
Dimensions: 
Each (cards): 3 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (8.9 × 6.4 cm) Container (box): 4 × 2 5/8 × 1 in. (10.2 × 6.7 × 2.5 cm)
Marks: 
Inscriptions: 
Description: 

Fifty-four playing cards in clear, plastic case. Each card, including Jokers, emblazoned with political information or illustration of Hillary Clinton. The 4 of diamonds, for example, notes “Only / 4 out of 112 / Supreme / Court justices / in American / history / have been / women.” The 8 of spade notes: “Women / make up 50% / of the U.S. / population – / but men / make up 80% / of Congress.”

Gallery Label: 

The New-York Historical Society’s museum collection includes hundreds of artifacts related to presidential campaigns. Presidents and presidential candidates represented include John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, Wendell Wilkie, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy, Al Gore, George W. Bush, and Barak Obama. This group of Hillary Clinton campaign ephemera was purchased by New-York Historical Society Chairman’s Council member Susan Millstein, primarily from the Hillary Clinton campaign website. Among the highlights included in this gift is a deck of playing cards adorned with messages such as “Women’s rights are no joke,” the t-shirt designed for the campaign by Joseph Altuzurra, a New York-based fashion designer, and the campaign throw pillow reminiscent of early American women’s needlework samplers. Altuzurra, along with Marc Jacobs and Tori Burch, was one of several New York City designers who created t-shirts to raise money for the Clinton campaign.

Bibliography: 
Credit Line: 
Gift of Susan and Ira Millstein
Provenance: 

Donor acquired the objects as gifts in November 2016.

Place Made: 
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
Creative: Tronvig Group