The Kamm Teapot Collection has several artifacts from the early 1920s about political corruption in the Republican administration of President Warren G. Harding. The Teapot Dome scandal concerned the backroom leasing of public oil reserves and took its name from the oil field near Teapot Rock in Wyoming. This scandal figured prominently in the 1924 presidential election, which produced the campaign memorabilia featured here.
The campaign button depicts the Republican party in “hot water” with a distressed elephant immersed in a steaming teapot. The window display links the names of corrupt officials on a teapot-shaped sign. These artifacts also illustrate how the teapot is used as a symbol and image across material culture, which represents a significant category in the Kamm Teapot collection.
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