RARE WARTIME CONFEDERATE SYMPATHIZER, COPPERHEAD OR SECRET SOCIETY CARD

$225.00 ON HOLD

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 1202-198

Measuring 3 ½ by 2 ¼ inches, this card is a rare survivor meant to discreetly indicate southern sympathies or play upon reports of those expressions. Printed in red on white card stock in a rectangular border is, “OUR / Cousin Sally Ann / IS / OLL KORRECT,” with the “O” and “K” in large letters to get the point across to even the least intuitive. “Cousin Sally,” with variants as “Cousin Sallie” and “Cousin Sal,” appeared in southern newspapers as early as February 1861 as a suggested national personification of the C.S. in contrast with Uncle Sam as the personification of the U.S. The addition of “Ann” to complete the “C.S.A.” was a natural extension in some versions.

This took on additional significance with southern papers reprinting letters from the north, actual or supposed, that the name of the female personification of the C.S.A. was used to covertly convey southern sympathies. The Charleston Daily Courier in July 1863 quoted a “letter from New York,” that, “we can talk secesh and drink to ‘Cousin Sally Ann” without being interfered with.” (This may have buoyed hopes of eventual southern success, but given the timing- the same month as Gettysburg and Vicksburg- seems a bit ironic, if not for the New York City draft riots soon after.)

In this case the author of the card goes further, getting in a rhyme along with the sentiment, as “our C.S.A. is all okay,” which gets the sentiment across more subtly in print by using the quaint “Oll Korrect,” for okay, though it tends to cross the line into trivialization. The linguistic derivation of “okay” and “O.K.” from “Oll Korrect” has been debated, but clearly derives some of its humor from the picture of someone so self-important or pompous enough to pass judgment and approval of something, but so poorly educated as to misspell it.

This is a very scarce piece of ephemera, highly unlikely to be preserved after the war, at least by anyone in the north, though perhaps they thought it as discreet then as during the war.  [sr][ph:L]

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