Little Pinkies Ball Player

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Text on Button LITTLE PINKIES THE BALL PLAYER
Image Description

Illustration of boy in baseball hat and pink nightgown holding a baseball bat on a white background.

Back Paper / Back Info

AMERICAN PEPSIN GUM CO BUTTONS MADE BY THE WHITEHEAD & HOAG CO.NEWARK, N.J. PATENT JULY 17, '94 APRIL 14, '96 JULY 21, 1896

Curl Text PAT. JULY 21, 1896.
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Additional Information

The Little Pinkies were a series of 20 pinback buttons made by Whitehead & Hoag Co. for American Pepsin Gum to give away in their packages of gum. The Little Pinkies appeared in 1896. Some say that they were a very early comic strip. Others suggest the characters were inspired by the popularity of Palmer Cox’s Brownies.

Pepsin powder was used in many chewing gums in the 1890s as is was thought to cure indigestion, or dyspepsia as it was called then. In fact, Pepsi-Cola was marketed as a digestion aid around the time this button was made.

For other Little Pinkies buttons in our collection, you can visit the Policeman, the Colonel, and the Boot Black.

Sources

Little Pinkies Ball Player button. (2020). Keyman Collectible. http://keymancollectibles.com/pinsbuttons/pepsingumlittlepinkiespin.htm.

Little Pinkies The Policeman. (2020). Busy Beaver Button Museum. https://buttonmuseum.org/buttons/little-pinkies-policeman

 

 

Catalog ID AD0938