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It Happens Every Four Years!

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California Delegates Cheering on Stagecoach at the 1912 Republican National Convention.
California Delegates Cheering on Stagecoach at the 1912 Republican National Convention. Photo by Bain News Service, 1912. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.10545

What summer event filled with spectacle and circumstance, speeches and ovations, and capped by a balloon drop happens every four years? No, it’s not the Olympic Games; it’s political party convention time! These quadrennial events are the formal nominating process for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Delegates wearing Jimmy Carter smile masks at the Democratic National Convention, New York City]
Delegates Wearing Jimmy Carter Smile Masks at the Democratic National Convention, New York City. Photo by Warren K. Leffler for US News & World Report, July 15, 1976. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.09735

In addition to the serious work of nailing down the party platform and voting for nominees, convention delegates have a lot of fun too. The two photographs featured today give testament to that fact. The first photo features California delegates to the 1912 Republican Convention arriving in style with pennants flying on board a stagecoach. In the second photo, delegates show their support for candidate Jimmy Carter by donning masks highlighting his famous smile.

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