This kerchief most likely celebrates Woodrow Wilson's triumph in Paris as the broker of the Treaty of Versailles following World War I. President Wilson, whose popularity peaked after the armistice in 1918, was recognized at home and abroad as the leader who had secured an allied victory. The slogan "man of the hour," however, is ironic, because within a year Wilson's popularity in the United States would plummet due to his support for the League of Nations.

This kerchief was distributed by the Socialist Party of America in 1932. Although Morris Hillquit received 100,000 votes in his bid for mayor, 1932 marked the SPA's last strong showing in an election. Workers, particularly those from the garment industry, who formed the party's base in the 1920's, fled either to the Democratic Party or to the more radical Communist Party.

This kerchief was used during the 1940 presidential campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was elected to a third term, defeating his Republican opponent Wendell Willkie. Before its acquisition by the Historical Society, the kerchief was part of the nearly encyclopedic collection of American flags formed by Boleslaw and Marie-Louise d'Otrange Mastai of New York beginning in the 1940s. The collection was broken up and sold in 2002.

This kerchief was created by Jack Frost Design, the firm responsible for the Republican National Committee logo and graphics for the Ford and Reagan campaigns. The elephant as a symbol of the Republican Party was a product of the imagination of cartoonist Thomas Nast and first appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874.

This scarf, probably made during the presidency of Bill Clinton, bears facsimile signatures of all 42 presidents from George Washington to Bill Clinton.

The inscription on this anti-Reagan kerchief refers to the 1951 comedy film "Bedtime for Bonzo," in which then-actor Ronald Reagan plays a professor who tries to teach morals to a chimpanzee.

This kerchief was produced for the 1928 presidential campaign of Herbert Hoover. The campaign for the opposing candidate, Alfred E. Smith, produced an identical kerchief with Smith's portrait at center.

This picture was stitched by Anne Eliza Close Benson (b. 1845) as a diversion or for home decoration. With its stylized potted flowers, rustic cottage, and hearts, Mrs. Benson's embroidery is characteristic of the Arts and Crafts style that flourished in America between 1900 and 1915 and emphasized unornamented design and the value of handwork. The archaic term "phillis" in the pastoral verse refers to a table maid or waitress.

This ribbon was awarded by the city of Brooklyn to Colonel Alfred M. Wood of the 14th regiment upon his return to Brooklyn. Wood was shot through the pelvis and taken prisoner by the Confederacy at the first battle at Bull Run on July, 21 1861 .In February of 1862 he was released from prison in Richmond to Fort Monroe along with General Corcoran . While in Richmond, Wood was present during the inauguration of Jefferson Davis, an event he claimed was relatively tranquil and that "no enthusiasm was manifested on the occasion, hardly a cheer being raised." He then made his way back to New York via Baltimore then Philadelphia. As reported in The Brooklyn Eagle, he arrived in New York on March 3rd and was greeted with "the most tumultuous applause" that "hustled him about so as almost to disable him…[and] were almost as serious in their effects as the wounds sustained on the field of Bull Run." On October 20, 1863 he was nominated for the position of mayor of Brooklyn, an election he won the following month on November 2. However, shortly after winning the election Wood's eligibility for candidacy would be called into question by his opponents, citing a stipulation that the mayor must have lived in Brooklyn for five years prior to election . Wood was of course at war during the period of time in question, an argument that eventually prevailed, as his mayoral status was never revoked. Wood's problems as mayor would continue throughout his term, with the public disapproving many of his policies, the most prominent being a steep increase in taxes so as to bolster the police force and pave a number of roads in Brooklyn. However, one action that did receive positive feedback from the public was a proposal to amend the conscription bill at the time so as to recognize and consider the difference between single men and those with families when drafting soldiers for the war. He served as mayor until 1865 and was succeed by Samuel Rooth. Wood died in 1895 and is buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery.