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| Text on Button | WOLF! |
| Image Description | Blue and white illustration of a wolf over blue text on a white background with an outer blue edge |
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| Additional Information | The fable of The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a classic story attributed to Aesop. It tells of a shepherd boy who repeatedly tricks villagers into believing a wolf is attacking his flock. When a real wolf finally appears and the boy calls for help, the villagers, having been fooled before, don't believe him. As a result, the sheep are devoured by the wolf. The moral of the story is that those who lie frequently will not be believed, even when they speak the truth. Johnson Smith & Company began in Chicago, Illinois in 1914 as a mail-order novelty and gag gift supplier, settling in Racine, Wisconsin in 1926. Johnson Smith & Co. or Johnson Smith Company sold an array of toys including pinback buttons with suggestive slogans meant as ice breakers. Their 1929 catalogue touts, “These Buttons provide subjects for pleasant jokes and amusing conversations, and thus smooth the way to a more familiar acquaintance and cordial friendship. They are very wittily worded and quite unobjectionable. Wear one and see the effect.” |
| Sources |
Birnkrant, M. (n.d.). Small things: Remembering Johnson Smith & Company [blog post]. Mel Birnkrant.com. https://melbirnkrant.com/recollections/page49.html Curious Goods 1446. (n.d.). ‘Won’t you be my baby’ vintage celluloid pinback button [eBay listing]. eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/175402616394 E-Mercantile Antiques. (2025). VTG 1930s?? Johnson Smith & Co catalog #130 novelty toys jewelry guns pistols o [eBay listing]. eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/205635513339 Gibbs, L. (2002). Aesop’s Fables: The boy who cried ‘wolf’. Aesopica: Aesop’s Fables in English, Latin & Greek. http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/oxford/151.htm Johnson Smith & Co. (1929). Johnson Smith &. Co, Catalogue. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/1929johnsonsmith0000tony/page/308/mode/2up Johnson Smith & Co. (1951). Novelties Johnson Smith and co 1951 catalog. Internet Archive. https://ia803405.us.archive.org/5/items/novelties-johnson-smith-and-co-1951-catalog/Novelties%20Johnson%20%20Smith%20and%20Co%201951%20catalog_text.pdf Johnson Smith Co. (2017). About Our Company. Johnson Smith Company. https://web.archive.org/web/20170929033510/http://www.johnsonsmith.com/aboutus/ Oxford English Dictionary. (2008). ‘Wolf’. Ask Oxford: Oxford Dictionaries. https://web.archive.org/web/20081201184310/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/wolf Price, C. (n.d.). Item Catalog Ted Hake [Pinterest pin]. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/click-to-close-image-click-and-drag-to-move-use-arrow-keys-for-next-and-previous--153192824806283578/ Sicking, E. A. (n.d.). Advertising pins: Johnson Smith & Co, novelty button/pinback (1930’s) [Pinterest pin]. Pinterest. https://kr.pinterest.com/pin/311874342964093699/ Ted Hake. (n.d.). Johnson Smith famous novelty supply house 1930s funny saying button with rebus [auction listing]. TedHake.com. https://www.tedhake.com/JOHNSON_SMITH_FAMOUS_NOVELTY_SUPPLY_HOUSE_1930s_FUNNY_SAYING_BUTTON_WITH_REBUS_-ITEM804.aspx Ted Hake Vintage Buttons & More. (2019). Johnson Smith famous novelty supply house 1930s funny saying button with image [eBay listing]. eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/141168406868 |
| Catalog ID | HU0127 |