Just Tell Them

Just Tell Them Ice Breakers Button Museum
Category
Ice Breakers
Additional Images
Just Tell Them button back Ice Breakers Button Museum
Text on Button JUST TELL THEM THAT YOU SAW ME
Image Description

Red text on a white background.
Back Paper / Back Info

The Whitehead & Hoag Co., Newark, N.J.
Patented
July 17, 1894
April 14, 1896

Back paper has been varnished

 
Back Style
Unlocking pin
The Shape
Circle
The Size
7/8 inch
The Manufacturer
Whitehead & Hoag Co.
Additional Information

The slogan on this button is likely a reference to the song “Just Tell Them That You Saw Me” by Paul Dresser (published in print in 1895 with a recorded release in 1896). The song describes a man approaching a woman he recognizes from childhood in a neighboring town and offering to bring a message home for her. She responds “Just tell them that you saw me,” hoping to improve her sickly condition before returning home herself.

Whitehead & Hoag Co. produced a similar button for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes around the same time featuring the “Just Tell Them That You Saw Me” logo above the cigarette company’s name.
Sources

Dresser, P. (1895). Just Tell Them That You Saw Me. [Audio File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdaqUsq79J4. 

Song: Just Tell Them That You Saw Me written by Paul Dresser. (n.d.). Second Hand Songs. Retrieved July 25, 2022, from https://secondhandsongs.com/work/233862/all?&sort=performer&reverse=1.&…;

John Hopkins Sheridan Libraries & University Museums. (n.d.). Just Tell Them That You Saw Me. Song and Chorus. The Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection. Retrieved July 25, 2022, from https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/141/148. 

thejoyfulgiraffe. (n.d.). 1896 “TELL THEM YOU SAW ME” Sweet Caporal Cigs Whitehead & Hoag Celluloid PIN. eBay. Retrieved July 25, 2022, from https://www.ebay.com/itm/204041042953?hash=item2f81cb3c09:g:w14AAOSw8s1….
Catalog ID IB0566