Call him a political junkie, if you will, but Sidney Runnels of Columbus is hooked on campaign collectibles — those promotional buttons, ribbons, posters, mugs, golf balls, ties and Billy Beer that document, in their own way, the development of the United States as a democracy.

It has never mattered whether candidates are Republican, Democrat or Independent. Runnels’ 2,000 or more political mementos cross party lines and decades, from Wendell Wilkie’s 1940 Republican presidential bid, to Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 run, to Ross Perot’s Reform Party candidacy in the 1990s.

America’s political process has fascinated Runnels since he was a teenager coming of age in Canton. More than once, he has crossed the threshold of the White House and met presidents, and he served as a delegate to two national conventions. He held city office himself, serving as mayor of Canton from 1979 to 1994. Later, as economic development director in West Memphis, Arkansas, and a member of the state Chamber of Commerce, he made annual visits to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Through it all, he enthusiastically amassed souvenirs of national and local campaigns waged and won, launched and lost.

“I got this one at the 1976 National Convention,” Runnels says, plucking a Jimmy Carter button from several hundred other “trophies” covering the family dining table. “Oh, and I got this one at a flea market,” he continues, putting down one collectible and reaching for another, then another. The long table can’t hold them all. Display cases and tabletops throughout the house are filled as well, evidence of a hobby that began a long time ago.

Thinking back to its origins, Runnels recalls the impact of volunteering on the campaign of a friend who ran for chancery clerk decades ago.

“He had a grassroots campaign, not a lot of money, running against an incumbent who’d been in office a long time,” the former Democrat says. “We worked our heads off, and we won! That just got me excited.”

After finishing at Delta State University and going into the insurance industry, Runnels eventually felt the call to enter the ring himself, emerging victorious over the incumbent in Canton’s mayoral election. His passion for politics — and his memorabilia collection — increased by the year.

Eggs to beer

Many of Runnels’ campaign keepsakes have come from dealers, friends, garage sales and flea markets.

“People know I collect, and they bring me things,” he says. Unique items in his wide assortment include wooden souvenir Easter eggs from multiple White House Easter Egg Rolls, a Gore-Lieberman button from 2000 in Hebrew and decanters embossed with presidential profiles.

Beer seems to be popular with a bottler that put out Dolelightful and Billary beers for the 1996 match-up between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. And, of course, Billy Beer, named for President Jimmy Carter’s younger brother, had its moment in the spotlight, too.

His oldest memorabilia, Runnels says, would be a “Wilkie” button, which dates to 1940’s presidential campaign, and a hand-painted button commemorating the presidency of George Washington. Markings on that item indicate it might have been manufactured in St. Louis in 1899.

Runnels owns a number of “jugate” mementos — items that feature images of both presidential and vice presidential candidates. They are highly sought-after by collectors, according to the website of Manifest Auctions of Greenville, South Carolina. As an example, a cloth banner featuring James K. Polk and running mate George Dallas sold for $185,000 in 2015, says a March 15, 2016, article by Eric Greenberg for msnbc.com.

Buttons or pins are the most widely-collected artifacts of electoral history, says American Political Items Collectors, a nonprofit membership organization (apic.us). A few can sell for large sums, such as a James Cox-Franklin Roosevelt button that reportedly went for $20,000. In perfect condition, the selling price would escalate.

Would-be collectors looking to spend less need not worry, however. An Internet search reveals that plenty of original souvenirs can be purchased for less than $30.

Predicting whose items will be in future demand is difficult to do. Factors from rarity to candidate personality can affect value.

For Runnels, the focus is on something other than money.

“I just love the history and what’s behind it,” he says. “I like to see how our government runs.”

In the final days leading up to the Nov. 8 presidential election, Runnels repeats a mantra he has embraced since his own mayoral campaign in the 1970s: Involvement, Commitment, Pride.

“Those three things are more important than almost anything,” he says, imploring every citizen to exercise their vote.

Whatever Tuesday’s outcome, the campaign will add yet another chapter to Runnels’ inventory.

“Most people don’t give a flip about all these things I have, but I get a sense of pleasure and pride in having a part of the history of our country,” he says, then smiles — “I never got into hunting, so I like to say that all this is my four-wheeler and shotgun shells.”

Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.

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