Recognize the opposition’s slogan…”Tippicanoe and Tyler, too”? How about, “Keep the ball rolling”?

Presidential Campaign Phrase

Here we are in process of a presidential campaign with hard hitting commercials, disinformation all around and the voters being led by the nose? Where did all this campaign hype begin in our country? Yes, there were speeches made…lots of speeches by all the presidents and their campaign opponents.  But what about all the advertising, buttons, banners and drawing of attention?

Let’s Keep the Ball Rolling

Did you ever hear the expression, “keep the ball rolling“? In the election of 1840, President Martin Van Buren ran for relection against”Tippecanoe and Tyer, too“….General William Henry Harrison.  The General was a legendary hero having fought againt the Indians at Tippecanoe. This began the first modern political campaign.

It’s believed that the election gave us the expression keep the ball rolling. Ten foot victory-balls made of tin and leather were imprinted with the candidate Martin Van Buren’s  name,  then they were rolled from city to city as far as 300 miles.  This was an effective and weird advertising stunt. The victory balls did popularize the expression, keep the ball rolling.  It also kept interest from waning since there was no TV or internet to keep the campaigns alive.

The saying can also have dated back to the late 18th century.  Of British origin, it alludes either to the game of bandy which is a form of hockey and the puck is a small ball.  Or it can refer to the game of rugby.  Either sport still proves thare is no interest in the game if the ball is not rolling. The first formof the expression was…keep the ball up.

taken from The Henry Holt Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Oigins by Robert Hendrickson