The American mercantile spirit, ever restive, finds a way to exploit the death of President Lincoln:
W.M. Raymond and Company begins an advertising campaign based on their provision of a casket for the beloved former President during his homeward journey.
The Anti-Tobacco League soon after finds itself posthumously “endorsed” by the late President.
Raymond's Casket Company and the Anti-Tobacco League are two of the earliest examples of marketing-by-association with the fallen President.
As time passes and memory fades, Lincoln's name becomes a catchword, implying the high moral fiber and honesty of financial houses, insurance companies, and carmakers. President John F. Kennedy is riding in a Lincoln when he is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.
Nebraska names its capital for the Railsplitter, and a children's toy allows youngsters to build a log cabin much like the one the President was born in.
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