Queen Power

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Leslie Tobin ran a shop in the 1960s in Philadelphia called "The Apparatus". The sold incense, jewelry, buttons, posters, and other hippie ephemera. The shop faced legal troubles in 1969 when it was raided several times by the Morals Squad of the Philadelphia Police Department due to complaints about obscene items—including buttons like this. No charges were filed, as buttons are a form of protected free speech. As Tobin stated in court, the buttons "were a social comment on the mores and hypocrisy of our society." In our judgment, 'Stop Vietnam' is as much speech on a button as it is in a newspaper, book or movie."