Adams's "Log Cabin" is the scarcer of two transferware patterns produced to commemorate William Henry Harrison's successful 1840 campaign to become his nation's ninth president. As with politics today, symbolism was all important, and the pattern was designed to hammer home the candidates humble and manly pioneer roots.

 A cabin stands isolated in the wilderness; an American flag proudly waves; out front is a plow--perhaps left behind by Harrison when called to serve his country. By the cabin is a hard cider barrel, a key symbol of the campaign, labeled lest anyone should overlook it. Flattering portrait medallions of Harrison alternate with floral reserves against a lattice pattern border. (Harrison, of course, was actually born in one of the aristocratic James River Plantations of Virginia.)

Ridgway's "Columbian Star," the more frequently encountered Harison pattern, presents a similar cabin scene, though differing in details. Its elegant star studded border lacks the all important portrait medallions of "Log Cabin."