Seal dealer delivers to state

Liberty and Plenty rolled up to the seat of state government Monday in a rented trailer piloted by a Tennessee man who travels from state capital to state capital selling government seals.

A fresh state seal featuring the allegorical figures of Liberty with her constitution and Plenty and her cornucopia will adorn the wall of a newly renovated state Senate chamber. At 6 feet across -- 28.3 square feet -- the seal is the largest Robert Huff has ever made. And in 30 years, he has made thousands.

What started out as a hobby for the Memphis businessman turned three years ago into a full-time job that takes him around the country peddling state seals to judges, politicians and government clerks. Most are of the 2-foot, easy-hang variety, but he sold a Texas 4-footer about 10 years ago. He uses a computerized router to carve computer-scanned images into plastic.

Huff's seal sales started when a frat brother was elected to the Tennessee state Senate. He sold seals to his friend's colleagues, moved on to governors' offices, then loaded a few dozen in his car and hit the road to pitch to judges. It seemed every judge wanted one for the courtroom wall space between the state flag and the American flag, he said.

"It was like shooting fish in a barrel," Huff said. He branched out to include a line of state-seal jewelry.

Huff has a reputation in Raleigh's Legislative Building. House Principal Clerk Denise Weeks has two of his pieces in her office. Huff gave them to Weeks as gifts. Or samples, really, should any legislator see a seal with Weeks' name on it and want a personalized seal of his or her own.

Legislative services director George Hall has a Huff seal in his office; legislators borrow it as a prop for photos.

Huff, 60, is a regular at annual meetings that attract legislators from around the country.

He dressed in a white shirt and tie for the morning delivery and a later trip down U.S. 1 toward Columbia, S.C., with stops at county courthouses planned along the way. He asked legislative staffers whether they wanted to pose for pictures beside the white plastic disk he helped roll into the chamber.

"Unh-unh," Hall said. "Sure don't."

The seal will be a $7,300 design detail in the $1.8 million Senate chamber renovation. The redecoration includes a new red rug with 50 gold stars -- one for each senator-- new desks and Sheetrock covering the concrete walls.

As he studied the surroundings, Huff wondered whether the seal would stand out from the white wall.

"If you want it to look good, you need to have it in color," Huff told Hall. "When it hangs up there four, six months and gets dusty, it'll have some color to it."