Steffen's Sparkie Club

Black text on a white background with a greyscale illustration of a boy with exaggerated features wearing a beanie and sash, both with lightening bolts. 

Steffen’s ice cream was sold in Wichita, Kansas. Nicholas Steffen established Steffen Bakery and Restaurant in 1882, the same year he arrived in Wichita. He partnered with W.H. Bretch to form the Steffen-Bretch Ice and Ice Cream Company in 1899. Steffen’s was purchased by Hiland Dairy in 1991, though the labels stayed combined until 1993 because the community was so loyal to Steffen’s brand. Community members not only knew their milkmen, but the close relationships with the people delivering their milk led to a loyalty to the dairies it came from. Hiland Dairy operates out of the Steffen’s milk processing plant to this day, producing upwards of 1,350,000 gallons of milk every month. 

The character on the button is a puppet named Sparkie, from the children's radio show Big Jon and Sparkie. The radio show ran from 1950-1958 and centered around Sparkie, an "elf from the land of make-believe" who acts just like a real boy.

The Sparkie Club was a sponsorship and merchandising program related to the show. It involved companies paying for special promotions relating to the show so fans could mail in proof of purchase (for example, ten milk bottle caps or milk carton lids) to get a specifically branded Sparkie Club Button. Steffen's specifically is known as the most profitable campaign of its time. After their sponsorship went live in 1952, they sent out 15,000 buttons from 150,000 proofs of purchase. All the efforts accumulated $250,000, an astonishing amount for the time, especially from a kid's show advertisement.

Click here or here to find other Sparkie Club buttons.