In N.H., 'Politics and Eggs'

  This is about a newish New Hampshire tradition -- "Politics & Eggs,'' another part of New Hampshire's storied presidential-nomination campaigns.

The first few paragraphs are below. See this link to read the whole story.

By SUSAN DOUCET

Concord Monitor Staff

In the world of pro sports, athletes have long followed a tradition of signing anything from baseball mitts to trading cards.

In New Hampshire presidential politics, the stars sign wooden eggs.

Any aspiring president who wants some notoriety and an audience of politically well-connected business people makes sure to speak at one of the Politics & Eggs forums, a collaboration between the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and the New England Council.

But before the speakers take the stage, they are given a task. A basket of wooden eggs – the namesake items of the series – is placed in front of the speaker, who must sign the glossed shell.

Asking the candidates to sign these wooden icons, the same size as real eggs, was not part of the original plan for a political event designed for local business people. But as the series has grown, so has the prominence and tradition of the wooden eggs, establishing them as political collectibles.