From 1917 to 1932, Herbert Jackson Drane served in Congress, where he represented a Florida district famous for its natural sea sponges and sponge market. The Member took every opportunity to promote his district’s valuable product. “His office walls and desk are covered with sponges of every size and variety,” the Belleville News-Democrat noted, which could be useful “if official Washington ever needs a chairman for a committee on keeping ‘political slates’ clean.”
