Matches are not Toys

Illustration of three young boys playing with matches with an image of a firefighter's head (the character Fireman Gus) floating above them among clouds with a white box with black text on a blue background

The character of “Fireman Gus” depicted on this button may have been inspired by the character of “Gus the Fireman” on the 1950s television show Leave It To Beaver. Fireman Gus was trademarked in 1986 and appeared on buttons, badges, watches, bookmarks, and coloring books to promote fire safety among young children. Fireman Gus is most often seen on Ross Fire Products, a company dedicated to serving the fire prevention and life safety needs of educators and firemen. Their catalogs are only available to public safety departments, fire departments, fire rescue departments and EMS’; they are not available to the public.