A newspaper that supported the Democratic Party provided Whigs with campaign material when it stated, "Give ( Harrison ) a barrel of hard cider and settle a pension of two thousand a year on him, and my word for it, he will sit... by the side of a'sea coal' fire, and study moral philosophy." Harrison's campaign leaders began serving cider at rallies and portrayed their candidate as a man of the people content with simple pleasures (like sitting by the fire in his log cabin) as opposed to the more luxurious lifestyle of President Martin Van Buren.

Hard cider was also the subject of "The Hard Cider Quick Step," one of more than one hundred songs that were played and sung at political rallies for Harrison. Many songs compared the lavish tastes of Van Buren with the down home goodness of Harrison :

Let Van...