Morty the Dog

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Buttons - State Campaign - 1968

Governor John O'Connell, Democrat

In 1968 three term Washington State Attorney General John J. O'Connell made an attempt to unseat incumbent Gov. Dan Evans. I like the way the designer of this button used the now outdated voter lever in place of an apostrophe.

Although Dan Evans enjoyed the nickname "Straight Arrow" in his 12 years as Governor of Washington State, I must say I recall all three of his gubernatorial campaigns, 1964-1972, as being quite nasty. In fact, in his last campaign he employed serial killer Ted Bundy.

Phone photo 1845

A diner in Montesano, Washington called the Beehive which has been around since the 1930s and still has an Art Deco look has lots of interesting things on the walls, including this framed decal of Rat Fink by Big Daddy Roth.

Roth and I have a history, as portrayed in my minicomic, Musical Chairs.

By the way, I cannot praise the Beehive enough. A great place to stop for you Puget Sound folks on the way to the coast. Monty, our county seat, is a nice town and worth exploring a bit.

Phone photo 1844

Yah its Fxxking Dusty! Slow

Sign seen at truck scaling station
White Star, Grays Harbor County, Washington

We are experiencing unusually dry weather this month in this land of perpetual rain

Buttons - State Campaign - 1968

Dan Evans

I found this button on the ground when Washington State Gov. Evans was running for his second term in 1968.

Comic art historians might be interested to know Gov. Evans, along with State Sen. Gordon Sandison, was an important figure in the creation of The Evergreen State College. TESC is now known as a hotbed of cartoonists. When Gov. Evans stepped down after serving an unprecedented consecutive three terms as Governor, he became the President of Evergreen and it was viewed as a very controversial move at the time.

The editor of the school paper, The Cooper Point Journal, during this turmoil was none other than Matt Groening. And here's a bit of Matt trivia. He's not only a great cartoonist, he's also a great journalist. He could've been an amazing investigative reporter, but as it happened his talents were used to better advantage.

Here's yet another bit of trivia. The Evans administration actually employed me ca. 1976 to conduct phone polling. I got paid per each completed survey. It was a night job conducted by college students mostly. This gig was very educational for me in that I heard the vox populi unfiltered.

Phone photo 1843

Industrial ruins, Deschutes River, Tumwater, Washington

Phone photo 1842

Industrial ruins, Deschutes River, Tumwater, Washington

Buttons - State Campaign - 1974

Brown for Governor

I picked up this button in Santa Barbara in the summer of 1974, when Jerry Brown was running for the office of Governor of California

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Phone photo 1841

Deschutes River, Tumwater, Washington

The low rainfall this time of year has afforded us more of a view of Mother Nature's sculpture on the riverworn rocks than usual.

Phone photo 1840

Deschutes River, Tumwater, Washington

at the head of Tumwater Falls

Buttons - State Campaign - 1930s

Martin For Governor

Clarence Martin, a Democrat, served as Washington State Governor from 1933-1941. His political base was in Cheney, near Spokane. He was the last Governor here arriving to office directly from Eastern Washington.

This button is quite small, about the same size as a nickel.

Phone photo 1839

Where the Deschutes River empties into the Fetid Lake of Doom at one of the southernmost reaches of Puget Sound, Tumwater, Washington

Phone photo 1838

Tumwater, Washington

Buttons - Federal Campaign - 1988

Don Bonker, U.S. Senate

Congressman Bonker had a strong showing in the 1988 U.S. Senate Washington State primary, but fell short of gaining the Democratic spot for the general election.

Phone photo 1837

Tumwater, Washington

Phone photo 1836

Grays Harbor Fire District Substation

McCleary, Washington

Buttons - Federal Campaign - 1988

Mike Lowry, U.S. Senate

On the curl: Paid for by Mike Lowery [sic] For U.S. Senate Committee, Mary Lowery Treasurer

Possibly from his earlier run for the same office in the 1983 special election, but I'm guessing I picked this up in 1988. He lost both elections, but went on to serve one term as Washington State Governor, 1993-1997.

Phone photo 1835

$25 Sale - City Limits Gazette Misc. Packet

City Limits Gazette # blue sky blue (May 1991), slightly dented

City Limits Gazette # zillion and six (May 1991), gentle vertical crease in middle

City Limits Gazette # hup, hup, hey! (July 1991), excellent condition, no creases

City Limits Gazette # dead porcupine icebox (Oct. 1991), excellent condition, no creases

State of Beings # 11. Georgia! (June 1992), slight and gentle crease on lower right corner. Given the color of the paper, I'm thinking this was a special printing not distributed with CLG as a bonus.

City Limits Gazette # ** (Mar. 1993), excellent condition, no creases, very small stain on edge of cover.

City Limits Gazette # Zizz (Mar. 1993), excellent condition, no creases

City Limits Gazette # Ecstatic static on automatic (Mar. 1993) No creases, but cover appears to have some small red watercolor(?) stains

None of the above issues of CLG include the State of Beings bonus comic.

CLG was normally folded before it was mailed to subscribers, so unfolded copies are quite unusual to find.

$25 ppd
Check or money order to
Steve Willis
PO Box 390
McCleary, WA 98557-0390

SOLD!