Children's Day Group with Colorful Coats

Simple illustration of a group of children wearing colorful coats, walking up a large staircase, about to enter a building; the building is located on a green background meant to emulate grass, and has open doors and an arched window above the doors. Above the building is an orange background with white bold text

Children’s Day is a celebration of children’s wellbeing and joy that took shape in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the U.S., churches and civic groups marked it with special services, picnics, parades, museum or library open houses, and community fairs—many Protestant churches still observe it on the second Sunday in June. Internationally, the United Nations encouraged an annual observance in 1954; today many countries mark World Children’s Day on November 20, while others celebrate International Children’s Day on June 1.

This button serves as a mid-century American tradition. From the 1930s through the 1950s, towns, libraries, museums, and churches handed out inexpensive pin-backs as admission tokens, souvenirs, or “I took part” badges for Children’s Day events. The generic building in the design could represent a church, library, museum, or city hall. The back paper “DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING CO., ELGIN, ILLINOIS” identifies a major Protestant church-supply publisher that produced Sunday-school materials and Children’s Day handouts; pieces like this were typically given to kids and helpers during the annual service, often on that second Sunday in June.