Black and white photograph of Anderson imposed over a red, white, and blue stripe pattern with white text.

Campaign pin for John B. Anderson’s 1980 presidential run. John Anderson, a lawyer, and World War II veteran, was born in 1922 in Rockford, Illinois. He was considered a strong conservative voice in the House of Representatives, serving from 1961-1981, but moderated over time, especially regarding social issues. He was a vocal critique of the Vietnam War and President Nixon’s actions during the Watergate scandal. During the 1980 presidential election, he initially ran as a Republican but eventually dropped out of the Republican race to run as an Independent, coming in 3rd behind Reagan and Carter, respectively. After losing the election, he resumed his legal career and founded FairVote, an organization advocating for electoral reforms.

Illustration of Ross Perot on red, white, and blue background overlooking people and flag with white text.

H. Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire and former independent presidential candidate, died at the age of 89 surrounded by his family. He was a successful businessman and an unconventional politician known for his folksy Texas drawl and blunt demeanor. He had a fortune estimated at $4.1 billion and was involved in a daring rescue mission to free two employees jailed in Iran.

Perot ran for president in 1992, appealing to voters dissatisfied with the Republican and Democratic parties. His campaign, largely financed by his own money, focused on reducing government deficit spending and gained widespread support, reaching 39% in a Gallup Poll five months before the election.

He eventually dropped out of the race without providing a specific reason. Later, he claimed during an interview with the television show 60 Minutes that he announced his withdrawal after learning that President Bush's campaign planned to tarnish his daughter's image with a doctored photo that may have negatively impacted her upcoming wedding.

Light blue and red letter text. Red heart. All on white background.

Kmart began in 1899 as a five-and-dime store named after its founders, Sebastian Spering Kresge and John McCrory. The two business partners dissolved their co-ownership in 1897, and the Kresge owned stores changed their names to just Kresge. The first “Kmart” store by that name was opened in 1962 in Garden City, Detroit. The store brand further changed in 1990 when the logo colors were changed from red and turquoise to red and white. The main competitor for Kmart, Walmart, overtook Kmart sales in 1990, and Kmart had a loss of 940 million dollars in 1994. Actions were taken by management to improve and save the company in the late 1990s, and in 1998 the company was in the green again. 

In 2001, Kmart management decided to bring back Blue Light Specials and cut back on circular ads. Walmart quickly matched Kmart discounted prices, and people familiar and reliant on circular ads stopped shopping at Kmart. The drastic decrease in sales at the time led to the Kmart company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 22, 2002. Although the company has filed for bankruptcy and shut down most of its stores, there are still 34 stores open as of May 2020.

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Image of eye above black text. Image of breakfast above black text in center. Image of Santa Claus in lower. All on white background. Along outer edge, black text on red background.

L. S. Ayres was a department store chain that flourished with the popularization of malls in the 1970s. The company was founded in 1872, with the flagship store located in Indianapolis, Indiana. A well-known restaurant, The Tea Room, was located within the store. Celebrating Christmas at the restaurant became a wide-spread custom for many in the area. Shoppers familiar with the Tea Room Christmas menu nostalgically remember the chicken pot pie and desserts, such as the snowman ice cream made with scoops of vanilla. The Tea Room closed in 1990, but the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis has opened a recreation of the L.S. Ayres Tea Room where visitors can experience the same holiday atmosphere, eat the same dishes, and view artifacts from the Tea Room.

Image of Greta Thunberg dressed in yellow raincoat and knit hat holding up a white sign with black letters. Trees and houses can be seen in the background.

Greta Thunberg is a student activist from Sweden. She is depicted here in 2018, where she began protesting in front of the Swedish Parliament building in Stockholm for her government to live up to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. For three weeks prior to the Swedish Parliamentary elections, Greta skipped school to bring attention to the issue of Climate Change. What started as a local movement called #FridaysForFuture, became a global movement by 2019, with strikes on every continent. Greta Thunberg gave a speech at the UN Climate Conference in Katowice in Poland, the UN climate summit in New York, the EU parliament in Strasbourg, the French National Assembly in Paris, and the House of Commons in London. Her message to world leaders, "stop pretending that we can solve the climate and ecological crisis without treating it as a crisis." Though the Coronavirus pandemic put the mass protests on hold, she continues to campaign online and hold smaller, socially-distanced marches.