For evidence that American politics used to be more fun, one need look no further than the story of Andrew Jackson’s missing head. On July 3, 1834, a partisan daredevil named Samuel Worthington Dewey boarded the newly rebuilt Constitution (“Old Ironsides”), docked in Boston, and cut off the head of a woodcarving of President Jackson that adorned the hull. The prank quickly became legendary, but the head disappeared.
The bottom half surfaced at the Museum of the City of New York in 1936, but the top half — from just beneath the nose — was variously reported to be at a Massachusetts amusement park, at a museum in Newark and in France. Until now. Starting Sunday, the museum will display the noggin — top united with bottom — in an exhibit that will also include a precise accounting of its travels.
