Lincoln and his cane?

[Susan Higginbotham]

I think a cane (or walking stick--contemporaries seem to have used the terms interchangeably) was considered part of a man's formal dress.

At his first inauguration, Lincoln carried a gold-headed cane (possibly the one pictured in the second link), which he used to keep the manuscript of his inaugural address in place.

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/linc...gural1.htm

https://www.lincolncollection.org/collec...tion-cane/