The 1998 Spittoon Debate in the Lincoln home.

[RJNorton]

And was it the kind of guests Mary would have appreciated at all?

I sure agree, Eva. But I think she was not able to always choose who entered the Lincoln home during the time frame before and after the 1860 election.

Lincolns had large mixed gatherings, spittoons would have been set out for the convenience of guests,

Excellent point, Susan. I think the "large mixed gatherings" were especially prevalent during the c.1860 time frame.

Out of curiosity I checked Pratt's book on the Lincolns' finances and drew a blank. No mention that I could find of a purchase of spittoons.

Two spittoons are listed in the Historic Furnishings Report: Lincoln Home National Historic Site.

https://archive.org/stream/historicfurni...z_djvu.txt