Abraham Lincoln

February 12:  Happy 203rd birthday to our sixteenth president!

From Visiting Vintage

I had a penny collection as a child – I think initially it was so I could earn a Girl Scout badge.

From Visiting Vintage

My parent’s penny ante poker jar was a great resource for picking Lincoln cents. My most vintage one is 1910

From Visiting Vintage

The first Lincoln penny was minted in 1909 to commemorate his 100th birthday. It had a “wheat back” until his Sesquicentennial commemorated in 1959 with the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse side. I didn’t realize until I was surfing around the ‘net yesterday that for the bicentennial of his birthday three years ago, there were four different backs – I missed it! If you did, too check them out here. And then in 2010 we first saw the Union Shield. The archiver in me wants to get my penny collection up to date. I wish one of my kids would continue the tradition . . .

In 2004 we roadtripped to Wisconsin for my Aunt and Uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary. On the way home we drove to Lincoln’s Tomb in Springfield, Illinois.
A bit of a thrill for me to be at a historic site.

From Visiting Vintage

From Visiting Vintage

I’ve been happily perusing Life Magazines housed in the library where I work. The cover story from the February 15, 1963 edition: “Rare photographs, new-found facts tell the incredible story of What Happened To Lincoln’s Body”

From Vintage Goodness

Apparently Lincoln’s body was exhumed at least twice to verify it had not been stolen. The photos in this article are from 1901 (no, there are no photos of his corpse!). It was confirmed that it was, in fact, Abraham Lincoln's body in the tomb

“The coffin was lowered into the cage and two tons of cement poured down, rolling and lapping about the metal like lava. Mr. Lincoln is still there, 10 feet beneath the floor and more than a million people make the pilgrimage to his tomb each year.” (page 88)

Google books has the article - (hopefully the links I'm using work).
Rare photos of Lincoln's exhumation: strange history brought to light
And his face was chalky white

Securely laid to rest at the site we visited in 2004.

Here is Abraham Lincoln as a celebrity endorser in a February 1957 Life Magazine

From Vintage Goodness

The “Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln” offered in February 1962 for only $5.95 by the History Book Club (if you agreed to buy four more books in 12 months . . . )

From Vintage Goodness

Above the photo: “Life mask taken 60 days before Lincoln’s death. The hand was cast in 1860” Kind of cool AND kind of creepy.

President Lincoln probably had no idea he'd be a daily part of our life (if we paused to think about the pennies in our pockets).  I think of him on occasion as someone who fought and sacrificed to right wrongs.

Almost a century and a half since your death and we are remembering you, Mr. Lincoln.