Stewart's Sparkie Club

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Text on Button STEWART'S JUVE-NILE SHOE STORE SPARKIE CLUB
Image Description

Black and white illustration of the character Sparkie surrounded by black text on a white background

Back Paper / Back Info

ST. LOUIS BUTTON CO MFRS., ST. LOUIS, MO

Curl Text © ARTHUR-SAMPSON ENTERPRISES, INC.
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Additional Information

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.

To be part of the Sparkie Club, a company had to sponsor the show. Many companies were part of a merchandising program where child fans of the show could mail in proof (for example, ten milk bottle caps or milk carton lids) to get a specifically branded Sparkie Club Button.

Stewarts Juvenile Shoe Store was a children’s shoe store located on  historic Broughton Street in Savannah, Georgia. It is considered historic because it lies between Savannah’s city limits before the Civil War. The architecture in the area has remained mostly unchanged since then, with a handful of hotels and businesses from those days still open.

Sources

“Big John and Sparky (Big Jon and Sparkie): No School Today | Old Time Radio.” Www.otrcat.com, www.otrcat.com/p/big-john-and-sparky.

Sponsor Magazine. (1952, August 25). How to get the most out of a kid show. Sponsor, 32-34. https://archive.org/details/sponsormagazine-1952-08/Sponsor-1952-08-2/

Catalog ID CL0691