Blue and red text on white background.

This is a button to remind people to vote if they have not yet done so. 

Photograph of George Washington on left in green and brown with black text and white background on right.

"Let George Do It," was a radio program that ran from 1946 to 1954. The radio drama followed investigator George Valentine in his day to day life solving cases. While the series developed into a crime drama, it originally started off with a more sitcom format. The main character, Valentine, was played by Bob Bailey. Bailey would receive his most well known role after "Let George Do It" ended, when a year later he joined, "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar". The series is known for its minimal sound effects, only using an orchestra during the early years. As the show progressed and the budget increased, eventually production included a whole orchestra.

George Washington was an American political leader who became the first President of the United States from 1789-1797. His face was later emblazened on stamps, coins, and dollar bill currency.

Illustration of world map with black and red text

Know information about this button? Contact us here.

Red and blue text on white background with white recycling symbol in the O

“I’m One in a Million” is a popular phrase contributing to several recycling programs. One of the first recorded mentions of a million in the context of recycling is from the Recycle America program. In 1989, Waste Management Inc. improved their Recycle America program by partnering with the Du Pont Co.—one of the nation’s largest plastic producers—to add plastics to the items they could recycle. The program collected from 90 communities contributing to almost one million households.

Purple text on white cross illustration with purple background.

Know information about this button? Contact us here.

Illustration of a superhero smiling with a toothbrush and toothpaste in red and blue with black text on a white background.

Know information about this button? Contact us here.

White smiley face and text on a red background

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

The phrase, “I’m glad you were born!” is another way to express appreciation that a particular person exists and especially on that person’s birthday. This is also a phrase used by Pro-Life groups who are against abortion.

Yellow illustration of a man shouting in a megaphone with yellow text on a blue background.

The Michigan State athletic teams all share the name of Spartan and their mascot and logo resemble the ancient Greek warriors of Sparta. This was not always the case, and the term was first used in 1926 as applied to their baseball team. In 1925, Michigan Agricultural College became Michigan State College. Under their old school name, teams were referred to as the Aggies, short for Agriculturals. Since Michigan State was no longer an agricultural school, they needed to change the name of their sports teams.

A contest took place where students could vote for and choose the new nickname of the teams. They eventually chose to rename the teams, "The Michigan Staters." George Alderton, a journalist at the Lansing Journal who covered the teams, thought the name was too cumbersome and did not approve. He searched through the other student recommendations and spotted the term, "Spartans." Alderton bypassed the contest and chose Spartans as the new nickname that is used today.

Blue image of number 1 in illustrated cityscape of Chicago on white background over white text on blue background

Danny K. Davis is a politician from Chicago, Illinois. He was a member of the Chicago City Council from 1979-1990. In 1991, he ran for Mayor of Chicago, but lost in the primaries to incumbent Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley. He was elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners from 1990-1996. In 1996, he ran for and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives 7th District, which constitutes downtown Chicago and outer neighborhoods. He has since defended his seat 13 times and is still in office. In 2011, he mounted another campaign for mayor of Chicago, but withdrew before the election.

Gold script and text on dark blue background.

Wendell Willkie, a Republican, produced memorabilia for every million he raised for his presidential campaign in 1940. He was not liked by the big figures in the Republican party due to his views being in line with his opponent at the time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Willkie supported minimum wage, unemployment insurance, a limit on workers’ hours, and did not agree with the isolationist views of the more prominent party members. This sat well with moderate Republicans. He was seen as a “dark horse” becoming prominent with Democrats and Republicans with no prior notice to running. He also supported the civil rights movement and was opposed to racism. Willkie believed in bipartisanship for the betterment of the country. He lost the election in 1940; 449 to 82.