American Toby Jug Museum 

Abraham Lincoln character jug designed by Stanley J. Taylor and produced by Royal Doulton in a 1992 limited edition of 2,500. Considered a martyr by many, Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) stands out as a statesman blessed with remarkable political skill, great humility and breadth of vision. Born in a log cabin in backwoods Kentucky, Lincoln rose to become the sixteenth President of the United States. With less than a year of formal education, Lincoln taught himself by reading and rereading a small stack of books. Beginning in 1834 Lincoln served both in local and state politics in Illinois. He joined the new Republican party in 1856 and came quickly to the fore as a moderate who opposed slavery. His famous 1858 debates with Stephen A. Douglas (“A house divided against itself cannot stand”) led to his election as President in 1860. The Civil War, upon the quick secession of eleven states, began shortly thereafter. Lincoln presided over the war with vigor and skill, aiming to restore and preserve the Union. On January 1, 1863, he issued his Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves. The sorrows of war, expressed most nobly in his 1863 Gettysburg Address, affected him deeply. Re-elected in 1864, he lived to see the end of the war, only to be assassinated on April 24, 1865. The U.S. flag and Gettysburg Address form the handle of the jug.