Donkey and Elephant Bobbleheads Commemorating 2024 DNC and RNC Unveiled

MILWAUKEE – This morning, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled limited-edition bobbleheads of the Republican Elephant and the Democratic Donkey to commemorate the 2024 Republican and Democratic National Conventions, which are being held in Milwaukee and Chicago, respectively. The 2024 Republican National Convention is being held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from Monday, July 15th through Thursday, July 18^th while the 2024 Democratic National Convention is being held in Chicago, Illinois, from August 19th through August 22nd. The special edition bobbleheads are being produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.

Standing on a base reading “MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – 2024” with a backing of the Milwaukee skyline, the Republican Elephant bobblehead is colored red, white and blue with three white stars across his side. Standing on a base reading “CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – 2024” with a backing of the Chicago skyline, the smiling Democratic Donkey bobblehead is colored red, white and blue with four white stars across his side. The bobbleheads are both individually numbered to 2,024, are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. The bobbleheads, which are in stock and ready to ship, cost $30 each plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order.

Founded in 1854, the Republican Party, also known as the GOP (“Grand OId Party”), has used the elephant as the mascot of the party since the late-1800s. The symbol was born in the imagination of Thomas Nast, who worked at Harper’s Weekly from 1862 to 1886 and became America’s first great political cartoonist. Nast intended to present American politics as one big, messy menagerie – a circus, much like the one Barnum & Bailey had debuted in New York three years earlier. He reimagined the GOP as a weak, panicky creature that was constantly lumbering off in the wrong direction, its size more of a liability than an asset. The Democratic Donkey has been a part of politics since the 19th century. The origins can be traced to the 1828 presidential campaign of Andrew Jackson. During the race, opponents of Jackson called him a jackass as a term of ridicule regarding a stupid and stubborn animal. However, rather than rejecting the label, Jackson, a hero of the War of 1812 who later served in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, was amused by it, and included an image of the animal in his campaign posters. Jackson went on to defeat incumbent John Quincy Adams and serve as America’s first Democratic president.

Nast’s cartoon titled “Third Term Panic” and published in Harper’s Weekly on November 7th, 1874, mocked the New York Herald, which had been critical of President Ulysses Grant’s rumored bid for a third term. The cartoon portrayed various interest groups as animals, including an elephant labeled “the Republican Vote,” which was shown standing at the edge of a pit. Nast, a proud supporter of the Party of Lincoln, drew the Herald as a donkey wrapped in a lion’s skin, frightening the other animals with wild stories of a Grant dictatorship. In a subsequent cartoon after the election in which the Republicans did badly, Nast followed by showing the elephant in a trap, illustrating the way the Republican vote had been decoyed from its normal allegiance. Other cartoonists picked up the symbol and the elephant soon ceased to be the vote and became the party itself. The donkey made a natural transition from representing the Herald to representing the Democratic Party that had frightened the elephant.

Since Election Night 2000, red has become the identifying color for the Republican Party, while blue has become the identifying color for the Democratic Party. That night, for the first time, all major broadcast television networks used the same color scheme for the electoral map: blue states for Al Gore and red states for George W. Bush. Expect to see a lot of red when the Republican National Convention is held July 15-18, 2024, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, and expect to see a lot of blue when the Democratic National Convention is held August 19-22, 2024, at the United Center in Chicago.

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, which is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will be highlighting political bobbleheads during both conventions. The Museum will have bobbleheads of all 45 men who have served as President on display in addition to the 2024 candidates and an expanded collection of political bobbleheads from the 1960s through today.

“We’re excited to create bobbleheads of the Republican Elephant and Democratic Donkey to commemorate this election cycle’s conventions taking place in Milwaukee and Chicago this summer,” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “A symbol of their parties since the late-1800s, these bobbleheads will be a great keepsake for those attending the convention, Milwaukee and Chicago area residents, collectors, and anyone else looking for a fun way to remember the conventions!”

About the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum:
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, which is located at 170 S. 1st St. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, opened to the public on February 1st, 2019. The HOF and Museum also produces high quality, customized bobbleheads for retail sale as well as organizations, individuals, and teams across the country. Visit us online and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.