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This article from the Greenfield Gazette and Courier reports on some aspects related to the Whig convention which was held in Westfield, Massachusetts, in September 1840. The newspaper was blatantly in favor of the Whig Party candidate William Henry Harrison. The Locofocos were a radical wing of the Democratic Party, whose candidate, Martin Van Buren, was running for reelection. The Democrats used petticoats on poles as a derisive comment on "Granny" Harrison, who was 67 years old. A Democratic newspaper had suggested that "Granny" Harrison would be happy to retire to his "log cabin" if someone gave him a pension and a barrel of hard cider. The Whigs turned this to their advantage, claiming that they were the party of the working man and small farmer. Harrison won the election by a landslide in the Electoral College--234 to 60--but only by 145,579 of the 2,405,645 popular votes.

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