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The United Protestant Association (UPA) of New South Wales was established in 1938 by Thomas and Rosetta Agst in response to the lack of homes available for impoverished Protestant children. Before the Agsts established the UPA, the nearby Roman Catholic Convent had taken in the protestant children. A bitter division had formed between Catholics and Protestants and the Angsts felt the need to open a home specifically for the protestant children. Many of the children were British migrants affected by the war. Between 1950 to 1990, the UPA had housed over 3,000 children in thirteen UPA homes. As of the 1990s, the homes have been converted to aged care facilities as the cost of providing residential care to children had become too much.

The UPA sold buttons, or “Tinnies”, to help raise funds. The UPA offered a variety of colorful designs, Some featuring the faces of children, while others displayed animals and birds.

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The L.S. Starrett Co. is an 144 year old, American tool manufacturer. Laroy Sunderland Starrett always had a knack for making tools and is credited with patenting over 100 inventions including a meat chopper, washing machine, butter working machine, and a combination square that contained a steel rule with a sliding head. 

In 1880, Starrett opened a shop in Athol, MA for the purposes of manufacturing his combination square. From there, he began manufacturing other tools and marketing his company to international agencies. As time passed, Starrett opened more manufacturing plants in the United States as well as in many countries around the world.

Events in history affected the success of the company throughout time. The Great Depression took a toll on the profits throughout the 1930s. However, wartime proved profitable for the toolmaking industry and Starrett profited greatly from WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Starrett also made its presence known in the nonmilitary markets, providing affordable hand operated tools during times when power machinery and automation were expensive. As of 2024, the company continues to provide relevant items to an ever changing market.

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New South Wales (N.S.W.) was the first state in Australia to establish a pension fund to support the sick and the elderly in the year 1900. When a nation-wide pension was established in 1908, it included the ill and elderly, but it targeted marginalized groups such as Asians and Aboriginal people for exclusion from receiving pension funds. During the Great Depression, many states decided to make a 20% funding cut for things like pensions and wages. This decision did not sit well with the struggling citizens, who advocated for a return to the higher pension wages pre-Depression, a raise in proportion with basic wages, and minimum levels of pensions, and formed the Old Age & Invalid Pensioners Association of Australia. 

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The game of marbles can be traced back to ancient times. Marbles made from many materials including clay, stone, porcelain, wood, metal, and glass have been found in Native American burial mounds, European caves, and in ancient Chinese sites. In more modern history, machine made marbles began being produced in 1901 in Ohio. By the 1920s, marbles had become so popular that “marbles slang” was popular amongst the “mibsters” (Marble shooters). In 1922, the first U.S. National Marbles Tournament was held. As of 2024, the tournament still takes place each year in Wildwood, NJ. Since 1922, children between the ages of seven to fourteen are able to compete for the championship.

In 1925, the Philadelphia Bulletin Newspaper hosted the marble champions for a special train ride from Philadelphia to Valley Forge, then to Atlantic City. There, the marble champions met the mayor, participated in a parade, and celebrated! It seems the Philadelphia Bulletin continued the tradition as this button is dated 1928.

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Oscar Mayer’s Smokie Links were created in 1949 and discontinued in 2008. According to an ad at the time, these links were "good for just heating and eating at picnics or any meal at all!" Smokie Links were also sold at Wrigley Field during their circulation. While Oscar Mayer no longer makes the Smokie Links, they do make Smokies, which are a slightly larger sausage. A rival company took over production of Smokie Links at Wrigley Field in 2013.

The character on the button is a puppet named Sparkie, from the children's radio show Big Jon and Sparkie. The radio show ran from 1950-1958 and centered around Sparkie, an "elf from the land of make-believe" who acts just like a real boy.

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The Civilian Maimed and Limbless Association was an organization aimed at providing opportunities for the disabled. It was formed in Australia in 1949. Members began a workshop in which they were able to apply a trade in order to learn new skills and obtain wages. The group also conducted fund-raising activities and managed a physical headquarters at English Street in Camperdown, according to a 1955 article. 

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Stroehmann’s Bread is a product of Stroehmann Bakeries.  The business, created by Fred G. Stroehmann, began as a store in Ohio in 1892, and by 1911 Stroehmann opened a baking plant to begin offering baked goods as part of the services. Other locations soon opened in West Virginia. Three bakeries were sold in 1922, but Stroehmann’s sons opened other bakeries in Pennsylvania. In 1927 the company created a new offering: sliced white bread. 

The Stroehmann family’s German roots are demonstrated in commercials from the 1960s, where an animated “Grandpa Stroehmann” speaks about his bread in German-accented English with a few words peppered in. Today the company is owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA. 

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The Kindergarten Union of New South Wales was first opened in 1895 as a preschool specifically for disadvantaged children. When it was formed, there were very few early childhood education programs in Australia. In 2023, this preschool still exists and has expanded throughout Australia under the name KU, which it began using in 1991. It is still a large public preschool program aimed at inclusion for all learners, and influenced by many different educational approaches in order to fulfill the goal of educating the whole child. 

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Zonite Products Corporation was a manufacturer of hygienic and antiseptic products, including Zonite, Forhan’s Toothpaste, and Larvex. Chartered in 1922, the company manufactured Zonite for over thirty years before changing its name to the Chemway Corporation in 1956. The original Zonite product, developed during World War I, was marketed as a mouthwash, first aid ointment, deodorant, and more. As of 2023, the Mary Couts Burnett Library at Texas Christian University houses a collection of materials related to the Zonite Corporation in its archives and special collections. 

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“Paddy” is a song written by T.C. Bennet, also known as Theron C. Bennett, and published in 1906 by Victor Kremer Co. in New York. The song was composed for piano and voice and features lyrics centered on an Irish railway worker. The term “Paddy” comes from a corruption of the common Irish boy’s name Patrick and is an outdated slang term for an Irish man, now considered offensive.