Frederick J. Nachman

I do not know the story behind these tickets, but the timeliness of the event had me look up the details.

Eighty years ago – July 19 - July 21, 1944 – the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago in Chicago Stadium, which stood across the street from the present United Center on W. Madison Street. I tried unsuccessfully to find the weather on that date, for Chicago Stadium was never air-conditioned, which was why the infamous 1968 convention was held at the International Amphitheatre.

Like many things found in my mother’s possessions, I never heard the details surrounding the tickets. My grandfather Isadore Nachman passed away in 1942, so I can assume these belonged to my maternal grandfather, World War I veteran Meyer Bloomfield. He never expressed any political opinions, so perhaps the tickets came from the ward committeeman on the South Side. Interesting that the seats were reserved for the ground-floor mezzanine on the first day but unassigned for the second balcony on the final day.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for an unprecedented fourth term, with all but 9 votes on the first ballot. He accepted the nomination from a Pacific Coast naval base, where he’d gone to confer with General Douglas MacArthur. The drama was in the vice president choice. Henry Wallace, the then current vice president, was seen as too progressive and failed to get a majority on the first ballot, as a coalition of various interests nominated Harry S Truman. Arms were twisted, deals were made, and Truman was nominated on the second ballot. Wallace would go on to run against Truman in the 1948 general election, polling 1.16 million votes, just short of Sen. Strom Thurmond, who received 1.17 million votes while carrying several Southern states. Dewey, it turns out, did not defeat Truman.

A quick check on line found  tickets for this convention on Etsy offered by a Swede for an eye-popping $105 (U.S.) and two on eBay for a more affordable $25.00 (or best offer) and $14.95.