White button with dark blue border and text (except for center text "IT POURS," which is inverted).

Morton Salt Company started in Chicago in 1848 under a different name as a sales agency, only later becoming the prominent in the  salt business. It was Joy Morton who acquired a a major interest in the late 1880s who stamped his name on the company. Morton is credited with many innovation including adding an anti caking agent to keep table salt dry even in damp conditions. It wasn't until 1924 that Morton Salt Company began distributing iodized salt nationally in part to address the prevalence of goiters in the Great Lakes region. Today, the company is the leading producer and marketer of salt for food, industrial, and road uses.

Illustration of an open cylindrical container of Morton's Iodized Salt in blue and green on a white background with dark blue text.

Morton Salt Company started in Chicago in 1848 under a different name as a sales agency, only later becoming the prominent in the  salt business. It was Joy Morton who acquired a a major interest in the late 1880s who stamped his name on the company. Morton is credited with many innovation including adding an anti-caking agent to keep table salt dry even in damp conditions. It wasn't until 1924 that Morton Salt Company began distributing iodized salt nationally in part to address the prevalence of goiters in the Great Lakes region. Today, the company is the leading producer and marketer of salt for food, industrial, and road uses.

The iconic Morton Salt Girl has been associated with the brand since her 1914 introduction with the new slogan "When it Rains, It Pours" in a series of Good Housekeeping magazine ads. The young girl illustrated is walking in the rain with a large umbrella scattering salt behind her. [The slogan was adapted from the proverb "it never rains but it pours," early 1700s.]

Navy blue text on white background; button divided in three horizontal sections with inverted text in the center.

Long before milk mustaches of the "Got Milk" campaign appeared, the benefits of milk have been advertised on glass bottles delivered daily by the milkman, in magazines and in newspapers.  Beginning in the 1940s milk was being promoted by doctors, schools and the government as a necessary part of a healthy diet. The first federal milk program offering subsidized milk to school children around the country was introduced in Chicago in 1940. By the 1950s milk had become a family staple in the households of the post-war baby boom era.

Blue and gold CrystoGlass background.  Black text on yellow circle around periphery of button face.  Image of gabled top of skyscraper with golden rays coming out of top.

Metropolitan Life Insurance (often known as MetLife) was founded in 1868 and has provided insurance, annuities and benefit programs. The company’s headquarters was the MetLife Tower until 2005. It is depicted in the button. It was erected in 1909 and was the world’s tallest building until 1913. Its image and the slogan “The Light That Never Fails” have been featured in their advertising for years. A national landmark, the majority of the MetLife Tower was converted to a hotel. 

Buttons made with the crystoglas process, which was developed by Whitehead and Hoag, was used around 1915. Crystoglas buttons are produced by placing clear celluloid on certain areas of the front of the button with colored foil underneath over a stamped metal background. The process was not used often due to the high cost. 

Purple psychedelic illustration of two men wearing hats on carousel horses with purple text on white background.

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Smug-looking red-haired man wearing suit with knickers and red tie. Holding aloft a book labeled "bank book." Text in blue on a lime green background.

Thrifty Alexander is the invention of the Harvey Blodgett Company who specialized in bank and trust company promotion. Blodgett's character shows up in ads for several banks in the 1920s touting the benefits of savings accounts. One particular gimmick involved a series of 52 collectible poster stamps available from banks upon opening a savings book account or for general bank promotion. The stamps chronicle Thrifty Alexander on his road to fortune.

The artwork was the creation of noted American cartoonist and graphic designer Frederick Goss Cooper. FG Cooper is best known for his big-head characters and work in lettering and graphic design. His logo appears in the print ad of the Syracuse Journal for the City Bank Trust of Syracuse, NY (1923, righthand column). Cooper's work is featured in posters, ads and books from 1910-1930. He was also a founder of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).

Black image of of legs and feet dancing on the toes with Michael Jackson signature behind the crux of the knee, red and blue text on silver reflective background.

The California-based sports shoes and apparel company LA Gear paid $7.5 million to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, to market a line of shoes and apparel for the brand in 1989. The campaign slogan was "Unstoppable" and the graphic illustrates Jackson's signature 'up on his toes' dance move that is part of his company's logo. Up until this endorsement, Jackson's product deals typically didn't require him to do much, his name being quite enough to sell a product. For the LA Gear commercials and ads, Jackson actually wears the products including a pair of MJ athletic shoes.

The "MJ Billy Jean" shoes were in line with the pop star's sense of style at the time: all black, leather and suede, boot-like sneakers with a bunch of buckles and studs. Unfortunately by 1992 LA Gear was suing Jackson for fraud and breach of contract citing the performer's failure to wear the shoes in three music videos as stated in the contract led to poor sales. If you happen to have picked up a pair, they are worth big bucks now!

Red text on white background. Printed slightly off-center.

Maxotires were an automotive product manufactured by K&W Rubber Co., established in 1908 in Ashland, Ohio. The Maxotire was actually an inner tube, or liner, sized to fit inside any tire that was sold to extend the life of the tire. Using the Maxotire was advertised as reducing blowouts, the need to replace tires due to punctures and essentially made tires safe and "trouble-proof."

Blue and black illustration on aqua background.

Schweber Electronics was a distributor of semi-conductors, connectors and other electronic components located in Westbury, NY.  Founded by Seymour Schweber, the company was considered a pioneer in the electronics distribution industry and published books on microprocessors and semi-conductors. It merged with LEX Electronics in 1982 and was subsequently acquired by Arrow in 1991.

A large red barn-like building sits in a scenic green setting. A red border circles the button with white text on it.

The Massachusetts historic Landmark, the Longfellow's Wayside Inn is the oldest operating Inn on one of the oldest roads in America, the Boston Post Road. Howe’s Tavern, a “house of entertainment” was established in 1716 by David Howe. The tavern was an extension of Howe’s home which sat on the one of the first mail routes which experienced busy coach traffic between Boston, Worcester and New York. Four generations of Howes operated and expanded the Inn until 1861 when it eliminated short-term stays at the inn.

The inn was renamed Longfellow’s Wayside Inn by its new owner in 1892 after a series of poems—Tales of a Wayside Inn—by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who visited the Howe Tavern in 1862.  The poems were published in 1863 and recount stories from characters gathered at the Sudbury tavern.

Henry Ford purchased the property in 1923 and before his death established a non-profit institution to operate the Inn and associated museum, water mill, and archives. A devastating fire, financial trouble and board issues have been resolved and since 1960 the property has been financially stable.