Illustration of an orange beer stein with black text over a blue background.

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A man in a bowler hat and black suit with a cane looks at a computer sitting on a round table in front of a white background with black text. 

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Illustration of a yellow sun on a white background with blue and red text. 

The biographer John A. Farrell wrote of Ted Kennedy’s (1932-2009) presidential campaign in a 2022 Time’s article, noting that Kennedy’s quest for redemption has similarities to Joseph Conrad’s titular character in Lord Jim (1900): “’I shall be faithful,’ he said…letting his eyes wander upon the waters, whose blueness had changed to a gloomy purple under the fires of sunset.”

Sun and sunset remain a theme to Kennedy’s presidential run. In 1980, Kennedy challenged then-incumbent President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination. The self-proclaimed “cause of his life” was universally accessible health care, and he balanced his wealth and fame with philanthropy well. Still, Kennedy had pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident; in 1969, he drove his car off a bridge, resulting in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, his female passenger. The incident and its aftermath hindered his chances of becoming president and, in 1980, Kennedy lost the presidential campaign to Carter.

Thus is the sad irony of this button. Kennedy was nicknamed “the Lion of the Senate,” which brings to mind the sun, as the constellation Leo—“the lion”—is associated with the sun. Kennedy used sunrise symbolism in his campaign materials, and yet, the presidential campaign, in many ways, hastened the “sunset” of his higher political aspirations.

Photograph of a woman on a white background with a blue rim and white letters. 

Following his time as governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton launched a successful presidential campaign in 1992. His wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, was more politically involved than was typical of the spouse of a presidential candidate, earning her a great deal of admirers—and also scrutiny. Her popularity and influence was enough that she alone became a draw for, resulting in buttons like this one.

This same slogan was recycled for Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, seen here

A tall golden robot and a small blue robot in front of an abstract white space background with blue and pink planets with blue and black text. 

Star Tours is a theme park ride at DIsney MGM Studios based on the Star Wars films. The ride originally opened in 1989, but was given considerable renovation in 2011 following Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise. Another renovation was done in 2024 to add content from Disney's various Star Wars television shows. 

A photo of a polar bear raising its paw with beige text in front of a brown background. 

The Fund for Animals was an American organization dedicated to protecting animals from cruelty and neglect. Founded in 1967, they primarily focused on the treatment of shelter and rescued animals. The organization frequently partnered with The Humane Society of the United States, and in 2021 the two organizations fully merged. 

Photo of a rabbit with one ear with black text in front of an orange background. 

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the oldest and largest civil rights group in the U.S., established in 1909 to support the rights of Black Americans in legal, health, and economic areas. This button is a playful, novelty item with a rabbit mascot and a punny backronym: the large NAACP letters stand for “No Automobiles At Camp Please.” 

The caption “Pecker Rabbit sez…” is spoken in a mascot voice. It’s unrelated to “peckerwood,” which in 19th-century African American slang meant “woodpecker” and, by the early 1900s, became a derogatory term for white people—sometimes associated with hate groups that used woodpecker imagery. That history isn’t likely the purpose here; the joke relies on the backronym and an animal mascot telling visitors to avoid cars at the camp. The term "pecker rabbit" is likely a mishearing or typo for Peter Rabbit, the famous literary character by Beatrix Potter. It could also refer to a specific vintage Easter bunny plush made by Herman Pecker in the 1960s.  

A white and a black hand forming a heart shape on a white background. 

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Illustration of a white birthday cake on a display stand with black red, and white text on a dark blue background. 

Buttons like this were commonly given out as birthday gifts to children by Sunday schools, churches, or local community groups. The blessing at the top represents the tradition of including Bible verses or blessings in celebratory items handed out at church gatherings or to youth. The phrase “God bless thee and keep thee” refers to Numbers 6:24 in the Bible, suggesting the button was intended for a religious setting. Items like this were treasured as personal souvenirs and helped build community by giving kids a festive, wearable token to mark their birthdays, especially before custom cards and online greetings existed.

Goodenough & Woglom Co. was a New York company that provided educational materials for churches and Sunday schools from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Their shop at 256 Broadway published catalogs filled with resources like hymnals, attendance cards, lesson aids, and party supplies for events like Children’s Day. They were known for creating pins, badges, and certificates that encouraged and rewarded children’s participation in religious education. Sold through mail order, Goodenough & Woglom’s products became popular with churches all over the U.S., making them an important name in the early days of Sunday school programs.

Illustration of a child sitting in a red bathtub full of soap bubbles on a yellow background with red and black text. 

According to John Pollack, the 1995 O. Henry Pun-Off World Champion, "the most common type of pun is the humorous use of a word in such a way that because of its sound, you can interpret it in more than one way." "Call Me Soapy, I'm A Clean Kid" is a pun on the word "clean," which can also mean "stylish" or "virtuous." Puns and wordplay have a long history of use, notably with Shakespeare in the 18th century (Shakespeare is known to have used over 3,000 puns across all of his plays!). The exact date of the first pun used is lost to time, but scholars think puns can be traced as far back as the 8th century BC.

Punning can be seen throughout the classic epic of Gilgamesh. In Tablets 11 and 12, when Utnapishtim tells the people that they will have a bountiful harvest full of bread and wheat, he is making a cruel pun relating to their fate; in Akkadian, the ancient language in which Gilgamesh was written, the word for "bread" is nearly identical to the word for "darkness," while the word for "wheat" is nearly identical to the word for "misfortune."

According to Pollack, puns enable us "to pack more meaning, or more layers of meaning, into fewer words [and] to convey complex ideas."