Columbus Days Collectibles Still Abundant

By Roy Nuhn

 Columbus spent two decades in search of financing for his scheme to sail westward to reach the rich Far East. However, this pales in comparison to the centuries it took for him to become recognized as a hero throughout the United States.
 Columbus Day is now a national holiday, observed on the second Monday in October. For most of the 20th century it was not, but three-quarters of the states did celebrate the discovery of America as a state holiday. Puerto Rico, though, has its own Discovery Day, which is held on November 19, the date Columbus touched down on that island during his second voyage. In Michigan for a long time, it was called Landing Day.
 By most accounts, October 12, 1792, the 300th anniversary of Columbus’ landfall, is the first recorded public celebration. It occurred in New York City and was feted by the Society of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order (Tammany Hall), which held a dinner and dedicated a monument. For many years afterward, New York City was the only place in America where a statue of The Great Navigator could be found.
Credit for rescuing Christopher Columbus from obscurity and the back waters of American history goes to the millions of Italian immigrants who flooded into this country during the second half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th centuries. In search of an Italian-American hero to tie together the home they had left and the new home found, the Italians latched onto Columbus.
 During the nation’s celebration in 1876 of its 100th birthday, the Italian community in Philadelphia raised sufficient funds for a statue of Columbus to be erected in Fairmount Park, home to the Centennial Exposition.
 In 1893 came a glorious happening: the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, and opening one year late due to construction delays.  This colossal affair drew millions of visitors from all parts of the nation and the world.
 The year before, President Benjamin Harrison, heeding the request of Congress to make Americans aware of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, issued a proclamation declaring October 12 “…as a general holiday for the people of the United States.” He urged them not to go to work, but to join in community and patriotic ceremonies honoring Columbus and the greatness of our nation.
 Harrison’s proclamation requested Old Glory be flown over every schoolhouse in the land in recognition of the value of universal education as symbolized by Columbus as a pioneer in progress and achievement. The schools were also to hold celebrations on that day. By the time October 12, a Friday, came around, Columbus Day had turned into a nationwide celebration.
 The first state to recognize it as a holiday was Colorado in 1905. The mayor of Chicago issued a proclamation the following year for his city. By 1909 it was legal in New York, Montana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut. Massachusetts and Rhode Island joined the crowd in 1910. All of this was made possible mainly through the intense lobbying actions of the Knights of Columbus.
 In September 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt sent out a proclamation asking all 48 states to observe that October 12 that year as a national holiday. The celebration of Columbus Day is now one of the most important of all our minor days.
 From about 1900 to the present time, it has been commemorated with parades, Italian festivals, speechmaking, Knights of Columbus activities, and merriment in various parts of the nations, especially in the Northeast where there are many third, fourth, and fifth generation Italian-Americans.
 The vast majority of Christopher Columbus collectibles are relics of the World’s Columbian Exposition and his 400th anniversary celebrated in 1893. Collectors search for expo stoneware, medals, spoons and plates showcasing Columbus or his exploits, but these are not too common. Also to be found are a small number of toys and banks. At the top of everyone’s want list is the Columbus bell toy and the World’s Fair mechanical bank. Both were manufactured by The J. & E. Stevens Company, located in Cromwell, Connecticut, for the 1892 World’s Fair. Values for each of these pieces hover around the $3,000 mark.
 Beginning in the 1890s, businesses and manufacturers began issuing trade cards featuring Columbus. These were premiums found in product packages, advertising cards handed out by merchants, or giveaways gotten through the mails for sending in a box top or two. Foremost among these are the cards issued by Liebig Company and Ayer’s Sarsaparilla. Nowadays, Victorian-era trade cards about Christopher Columbus carry price tags of $10 or so.
 Most city celebrations over the last hundred-plus years have generated their own ephemera, including programs, posters and special V.I.P. tickets for grandstand seats. There have also been untold numbers of pinback button, badges and pins. In the early yeas of the 20th century, many black-and-white, as well as color, souvenir postcards were published picturing city views of Columbus statues and monuments. Notable are several from turn-of-the-century New York City showing the statue located on Columbus Circle. This was erected in 1892 on the occasion of the 400th anniversary celebration that year.
 The most commonly seen viewcard is Vanderlyn’s famous painting of Columbus landing on San Salvador. It has been used by countless publishers for the last 100 years. The original painting now hangs in the rotunda of the Capitol, Washington, D.C.
Editor’s Note: Columbus has fallen out of favor because the indigenous people of America protested his cruel treatment of them. And if he is celebrated at all now, it is for his determination to find the new world, not for what he did after he discovered it.

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