Canton Trumdrum Indian Blanket Campaign

Anonymous

Canton, OH: Canton Trumdrum, 1929. Softcover 4 1/2 x 6 3/4". Stapled pamphlet with 1/4 bound tape repair, linen paper, illustrated in color, some creases and wear, filled in with pencil names per normal use as contest booklet. Scarce, no other copies currently in the trade. Good + condition.

The Canton Trumdrum was an Ohio Corporation the applied for non-profit status from 1934 until 1976. The campaign for Indian Blankets was basically a contest where people paid a small sum and if their name was picked, they won a Cayuse Indian blanket. The fundraiser also received an Indian blanket. If you read the fine print however, you realize that only the designs were from the Indians. In reality, the Pendletoon Woolen Mills produced the finished product (telling the reader this was much better than the "crude unfinished texture" that originated in the tepees of the wilderness.) The campaign was later cancelled. Also in the pamphlet is a story of U-ma-pine, Chief of the Cayuse Tribe, told with racist overtones.

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