Oh what pun! — ‘On the fence’

The Morning Star on Aug. 14, 1884 published “He Isn’t On the Fence,” a whimsical presidential election-year poem that ended with a pun.

“They were talking politics in an earnest way, and little Katie listened to all they had to say.”

“They spoke about a neighbor, an undecided man, poor Katie looked troubled, then from the room she ran.”

“But presently returning, she said in tones intense, ‘I looked for Mr. Smith, papa, and he isn’t on the fence.’”

Fence-sitting and mudslinging are historic presidential election traditions.

“The two most unfortunate men for the next six months will be the two men who secure the nomination for the presidency,” The Morning Star quoted the Rev. T. DeWitt Talmadge on May 22. “The two reservoirs of malediction are gradually filling up, gallon above gallon, hogshead full after hogshead full, and about mid-summer the two reservoirs will be brimming full.”

George Jones, publisher of The New York Times was unpopular with at least one Warren County voter.

“A Horicon, Warren County man had written The New York Times, rebuking the editor of supporting Cleveland,” The Morning Star reported on July 21, adding, tongue-in-cheek, “Mr. Jones will probably change his tactics at once.”

For some, a presidential election year is an opportunity.

“Several young men of this village are organizing a drum corps of twenty members,” The Morning Star reported on July 18. “They will soon be ready to furnish martial music for campaign purposes.”

Here’s a line you won’t hear about presidential hopefuls today:

“’Never give up until after the convention’ is a motto of a dozen or more political candidates,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls opined on May 31. “The ragged edge has a peculiar fascination for some people, and that serves even to temper the shock of final disappointment.”

Ohio, a contemporary bellwether state, was trending red, in at least one town, in 1884.

“A local ticket lately nominated in an Ohio town is comprised wholly of red-haired men. That they will make a brilliant run is already an assured fact,” The Morning Star reported on Aug. 7. “It is economical because no torchlight procession will be needed.”

It could have been the start of a movement.

“If the strawberry sons of the nation are given a chance to cast a rubicund reflection on the political horizon they will enhance the brilliancy of the campaign and shed luster where ever they cluster.”

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