Sure Winner

Metal mechanical button with blue image of building and tan background. The lever on the top shows text in the cutout window when it is up. When pressed, the spinner inside selects one of two profile images of presidential candidate men. The lever can be locked on a notch to display the selected candidate.

The antique mechanical “A Sure Winner” presidential campaign pinback button was produced for the 1896 election and features William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan. Made of lithographed tin, it displays the U.S. Capitol with a small doorway that reveals a candidate’s face when the steeple-shaped tab at the top is slid and tilted. Known as a “guesser” or “sure-winner” type, this novelty allowed users to “predict” the winner by aligning the button just right. The reverse reads, “Oh, Stop Guessing! Presidential Problem Solved. Capitol is upright, and the candidate is a sure winner.”

McKinley and Bryan were dominant political figures whose rivalry in the 1896 and 1900 elections symbolized a larger national debate. McKinley represented an industrial, gold-standard vision for America, while Bryan championed an agrarian, free-silver approach. The 1896 election marked a turning point in American political alignment, driven by economic unrest following the Panic of 1893.

These buttons were likely made by the Whitehead & Hoag Co. of Newark, New Jersey, one of the earliest producers of pin-back campaign buttons. The company held important patents in button manufacturing and pioneered many techniques in mass advertising novelties. Its innovations in lithographed tin and mechanical designs, like the “A Sure Winner” button, are still highly valued by collectors today. The firm prospered into the 20th century before finally dissolving after a sale in 1959.

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