Black and white headshot photograph of Greta Garbo with red text and two red stars on a white background around the rim

Swedish-American actress Greta Garbo (1905-1990) rose to fame during Hollywood’s silent and early Golden eras. Garbo is credited with introducing what is now known as “method acting,” a technique wherein actors strive to create authentic performances by “fully inhabiting” their character’s inner life and personality traits. This helps garner genuine emotionally-expressive performances that feel believable. 

Garbo had a certain allure about her. Considered glamorous, mysterious, and even a little aloof, Garbo came to be an enduring fashion icon. She represented a different type of movie star, one with more of an air of sophistication and less of innocence. She made her transition from silent films to the “talkies,” to great acclaim, with the movie Anna Christie (1930). Garbo later earned a Best Picuture Oscar win in 1932 with the movie Anna Karenina.

Pink litho photo image of the band Devo with black text around the rim and pink text below the image.

WPLJ was a non-commercial radio station that broadcast in New York City between 1973 and 2019. The station produced buttons to celebrate musical performances at specific venues or for particular artists. 

The Dr. Pepper Central Park Music Festival, formerly the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park, was held annually during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The 1980 festival was held from July 1st to August 30th 1980, with the band DEVO performing on July 21st along with Lenny Kaye and WKGB.

Red background with white text curved on the top and bottom of button and a thick white bar in the center of the button with red text.

“Button, button, who’s got the button?” refers to a children’s game that originated during the 19th century when households frequently had a surplus of buttons. The game consists of the players gathered in a circle with cupped hands extended outward while one player designated as “it” stands in the center. The player that is “it” has a button in hand and goes around the circle to pretend to drop the button in each player’s hands. One anonymous player actually receives the button in their hands. Then, everyone collectively chants “Button, button, who’s got the button?” and the guessing begins. Each player gets one guess as to who has the button and the first player to guess correctly is then “it”. This game has even been referenced in media, such as Disney’s Alice in Wonderland.

Black and white photograph of the musician Jim Skafish on a black background with red text above the image

Skafish is a Chicago-based punk band founded by Jim Skafish in 1976. In 1977, Skafish opened for the American rock & roll group Sha Na Na at the Arie Crown Theatre in Chicago. In a Billboard article, Alan Penchansky described Skafish as a “peculiar appetizer” with the frontman dressed androgynously, sporting a pageboy haircut. Jim Skafish was described to be “skipping” and “prancing” around the stage before dressing down to a woman’s bathing suit and anxiously applying lipstick. The 50-minute performance left the audience confused, with one audience member reportedly pointing a gun at Skafish during the performance. 

The band—which included members Barbie Goodrich, Ken Bronowski, Larry Mysliwiec, Larry Mazalan, and Javier Cruz in addition to Joim Skafish— signed with I.R.S. Records and began recording their first self-titled album in 1979. Due to production over-spend, the album was mixed on a low budget and its release delayed until 1980. That same year, Skafish embarked on a European tour with post-punk, reggae, and ska bands like The Police, XTC, English Beat, UB40, and Steel Pulse. Their second I.R.S. album, Conversation, was released in 1983 and leaned towards a “beat-based dance style” that was not well received by audiences. The band broke up in 1985, but Jim Skafish continues to release music as a solo act. In 2006, he produced a jazz-style Christmas album titled Tidings Of Comfort And Joy: A Jazz Piano Trio Christmas.

Illustration of a white hand icon shaking a black hand icon

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White text on a blue background

One of several slightly different versions of this slogan, “Nuke a Gay Whale for Christ” reflects the perceived superficial nature of many social activist movements of the 1970s. The slogan, and its several variations, touches on the nuclear anxieties, the growing push for gay rights, the Greenpeace “Save the Whales” campaign, and the popular adage that “Jesus Saves,” all of which permeated the ethos of 1970s America. Other than buttons, the slogan was also a popular bumper sticker in the 1970s and 1980s.

Black and white photograph of Andy Warhol surrounded by white text on a black background

This button is a reference to pop artist Andy Warhol’s iconic “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” quote, but a closer look makes this a peculiar item. There is heavy speculation that Warhol never actually said the line that has now become so famous, and that it has been mistakenly attributed to him. But even if he did, this button appears to be poking fun at the quote and at Warhol himself. Is it a mean-spirited joke created after the artist’s untimely death? Or is it an indictment of the viewer of the button, implying that our own fame has come and gone without our having even noticed it? Hard to say, but Warhol’s take on it probably would have been quote-worthy.

Red text on a yellow background

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Black text on a light blue background and illustrations of the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Betsy Ross House and an American flag with an eagle over a picture of George Washington. A red, white, and blue ribbon connects the button to a metal fob depicting the liberty bell with its distinctive crack. 

Philadelphia is the city where Thomas Paine published his groundbreaking pamphlet "Common Sense," where the Liberty Bell was first rung, and where Betsy Ross sewn the original American flag. Philadelphia was home to Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s founding fathers, and represented the most populous city in the Colonies at the time. The Second Continental Congress also convened in the city of brotherly love in 1776, where its members drafted and adopted the Declaration of Independence.

Click here to see an alternate version of this button in the Button Museum's collection.

Black and white headshot photo of a smiling woman in the center surrounded by a green shamrock with white text on a white background; black text on a light green background surrounds the shamrock

“Pretty Kitty Kelly” was a serial radio drama made by CBS that aired on weekdays from 1937-1940. Sponsored by the makers of Wonder Bread and Hostess Cakes, “Pretty Kitty Kelly” told the story of Kitty Kelly, a young Irish immigrant voiced by Arline Blackburn. Having recently arrived in New York City, Kelly is struck with amnesia and is left with no memory of her past life in a Dublin orphanage. Written by Frank Dahm, episodes measured fifteen minutes in length and chronicled Kitty Kelly’s many adventures and escapades as she explored New York and found herself in a multitude of sticky situations. From jewel robberies and mysterious murders to handsome suitors and English countesses, “Pretty Kitty Kelly” handled it all armed with bravery and her inimitable Irish charm.