Poulin Antiques & Auctions of Fairfield, Maine held a militaria sale on November 2nd. They offered a Wide Awake marcher coat coupled with a parade torch painted with the slogan “Hurrah for Lincoln”. The twelve-button glazed cotton frock coat in no way matches the regulation Wide Awake uniform. It is typical of the coat worn by campaign marchers in the 1868-1896 period. The torch was sloppily painted in yellow, green and white. There is a “Hurrah for Lincoln” torch in the Smithsonian which may have served as the model or inspiration for this example. A similar pair (perhaps the exact one) was previously sold at auction more than twenty years ago. This post-Halloween offering scared us, but not other bidders who pushed the price to $2812. While the coat is original, we cannot say the same for the torch, at least not the painted inscription.