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Presidential campaigns all hand out gewgaws and promotions meant to capture the citizens' fancy and vote.

There are the old standbys -- buttons, pencils, bumper stickers, posters -- but collectors of campaign memorabilia will tell you that it goes way beyond that.

Some of the items are off-the-cuff, inspired by who-knows-what, and produced not by campaign staffs but by folks who just decide to participate in some unique way.

A High Point hosiery mill provided an unusual campaign gimmick for the 1928 campaign. I'm not sure an example exists now, and the only proof of it I have found is among the old letters in the Ragsdale Collection at the Jamestown Alumni Archives.

The '28 campaign was unusual in at least one respect. The Democrat's candidate, Alfred E. "Al" Smith, was a Catholic and was seeking this highest of our public offices during a period when anti-Catholic sentiment was commonplace.

North Carolina was heavily Democratic in 1928. However, Smith's faith was an issue for many local Democrats, and many of the party's faithful were swayed by the opposition.

The booming economy of 1928 led the Republican candidate, Herbert Hoover, to say the country was near its "final triumph over poverty," and that "poverty will be banished from this land."

The words were hardly prophetic, however: The stock market crash was about a year away, occurring in Hoover's first year in office.

As this campaign was under way, William G. Ragsdale, owner of Oakdale Cotton Mill, received a letter from A. W. Archer, of A. W. Archer Co. Cotton yard, Twine, Cordage, 325 Broadway, New York, dated Sept. 10, 1928:

"Dear Mr. Ragsdale.

"The socks you sent me are very interesting and amusing. I am hoping that Mr. Smith's followers will need something warmer than silk socks to carry them through the winter.

"You do not tell me what the situation is around Jamestown, but I have heard some very encouraging reports from North Carolina, particularly since Senator Simmons has definitely come out against Smith.

"The discouraging factor in the situation is that while a so-called Southern Democrat is opposed to Smith, he does not have the courage to register that opposition at the polls, but seems to be willing to content himself by not voting. I have talked to at least two dozen men from North and South Carolina and Georgia who are taking this position&ellipses;.."

A carbon copy of Ragsdale's reply is dated Sept. 12, 1928:

"Dear Mr. Archer,

"I have your letter of September 10th and am well pleased that the socks bearing the name 'AL SMITH' proved so interesting and amusing. It is a novelty gotten up by a High Point hosiery mill that seems to have struck the popular fancy. Another thing it shows (is) the up-to-date equipment of local hosiery mills. I understand Wanamaker's and other large department stores are sending in some very nice orders.

"The political situation around Jamestown is mixed; and when I say mixed, I mean to say that you can't tell what the folks are going to do. From reports all over the state, the Jamestown situation is the general thing. Voters are up in arms at what they call 'betrayal' by so-called leaders of the Democratic Party at Houston. It is a very interesting situation, and the outcome in North Carolina is doubtful. I think, however, that by the time election day rolls around North Carolina will give Smith a comfortable majority. Today Hoover would carry the state."

The letter continues to comment on the writer's health (improving) and on the price of cotton (on its way down).

As it turned out, North Carolina joined its neighbors to the north and west in voting for Hoover, while South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana went for Smith, as did Massachusetts and Rhode Island, a total of only eight states.

Well, if you've got any of those Al Smith socks lying around, the High Point Museum would be very interested in knowing about them. And, if you know which High Point hosiery mill made them, that would also be nice to know.

Mary Browning is a longtime Jamestown resident. Contact her at maryab30@triad.rr.com