Couple dancing in center of yellow border circle with red text on top and bottom of off-white background

Oktoberfest in Dearborn, Michigan is now put on by the Sacred Heart church and is known as Sacred Heart Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a festival in fall that centers around German food and drink. Frankenmuth, Michigan was the first city outside of Germany to host a sanctioned Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest spread to the town of Dearborn, Michigan soon after the Frankenmuth festival became a success.

Red eyeball with white text and black text on red background

The "Amazing Alfredo" was an attraction at Marriott's Great America, now Six Flags Great America, in Gurnee, Illinois. The attraction had two locations, "Amazing Alfredo" in the County Fair area and an "Amazing Alfredeux" in Orleans Place area. The booth consisted of a person, "Alfredo", who would venture to guess the age (within two years or month within two birth months) or weight (within three pounds) of a customer for a small fee. If Alfredo failed to guess correctly, the customer would win a prize. There are several promotional items including buttons, mugs, ashtrays, etc., that let the user claim, "I fooled Alfredo at Marriott's Great America,"

Marriott's Great America was opened in 1976 in Gurnee, Illinois. The Marriott brand decided not to pursue theme parks and sought buyers after 6 years of operation. The theme park was acquired by the Six Flags Corporation in 1984. Six Flags Great America consistently ranks among the top amusement parks in America for its attendance.

Kermit the Frog in an inner tube on waves with white text on blue background

Kermit the frog is a Muppet character created by Jim Henson. Kermit has been featured in several Muppet productions including Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. The character was voiced by Jim Henson until his death in 1990 and has continued under the direction of several other vocal artists. Kermit has been labeled as singer from several musical singles that have charted on Billboard and has been credited as an author of a book. Kermit, as a main protagonist for the Henson company, has been made into several forms of merchandise and promotional materials.

Hallmark card company, founded in 1910, is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In the 1970s and 80s, Hallmark had a partnership with Jim Henson to use Muppet characters in Hallmark merchandise. Following this, Hallmark partnered with Henson in the 1990s to form an television station with global broadcast, The Kermit Channel/Odyssey Network, which has now changed formats to become The Hallmark Channel after the partnership ended.

Giraffe wearing braces with brown text on white background

Orthodontic braces have been a source of stigma, staring, and discomfort over the years. The metal attached to teeth draws attention by changing the wearer's speech, appearance, and eating habits for a limited time. By promoting value or super features attributed to someone by wearing braces, orthodontists and dental professionals disavow negative remarks and feelings toward those who wear braces. This positive reinforcement helps wearers feel more comfortable and confident during their dental treatment time period.

Children and adults can receive braces for the correction of bite, smile, or injury. Braces are worn for a limited time. Traditional braces consist of metal or plastic brackets affixed to teeth, a wire that goes in between the brackets, and small rubberbands that hold the wire to the brackets. The teeth will move in the mouth as they are pulled closer to the path of the wire by the tension from the bracket and rubberband to correct a smile or bite.

Black text and key on orange background

Continental Assurance Company of North America was founded in Detroit, MI in 1897. The company merged with the Metropolitan Accident Company, changed its name, and moved to Chicago in 1900. In 1963, after more mergers were completed, the company changed its name again to Continental National American Group, taking the first word from each of the 3 newly merged companies.

"Key man" insurance is a policy where the proposer and the premium payer is the employer or the key person being insured. The key person can be any person with a special skillset vital to an organization and does not need to be limited to one key person per company.

Brown text and blue text on white background

CareFree Faucets is a brand of faucets.

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Red rose with green foliage image in center on silver background. Black text around button.

The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. The 1984 Rose Bowl football game was the 70th Rose Bowl. The UCLA Bruins defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini with a score of 45-9. The game was played on January 2, as New Year's Day fell on a Sunday, which was the common day of the week for a televised bowl game.

Orange button with basketball designs. Three lines of text. Top and middle line are white text with blue shadow. Bottom line is white text with thin blue border.

The "Fighting Illini" is the name of the athletic teams for the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. The basketball team is an NCAA Division I college team. The Fighting Illini lay claim to over twenty-five National Championships dating back to 1900 between 21 varsity sports. The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, founded in 1867, is a public research-intensive university in the U.S. state of Illinois.

Orange Crush is an early spelling of the student cheering section for basketball games, Orange Krush, a play on the name of the soft drink manufactured by the Dr. Pepper Company. As an officially recognized branch of the student organization, Orange Krush has become more than a student cheering section and is also a charitable organization.

K-104 was part of WPGU's two radio stations from the 1970s until 2005, broadcasting Illini sporting events. When the radio stations switched formats, the local broadcast stations were retired and the sports broadcasts moved to satellite radio.

Traditional yellow background with skull and smile beneath it. The designs are black.

Tom Newton is the creator of, "Smile not dead yet." Newton is an artist who works in graphic design, illustration, and advertising. Some of his work was created through employment at Whole Wheat Creative, a Texas-based advertising company that works with businesses and local universities. Newton has also gone on to create packaging for recognizable brands such as McDonalds and Odwalla through his employment at CMA.

This button is a variation on the classic yellow smiley face that 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 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.

Grayscale image of Yoda in center on white background. Text around image is red.

"Yoda for President" was an unlicensed response to the 1980 presidential campaign. After the film, The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars characters were hot topics. In an article published in Newsweek in 1979 about presidential candidate policies, aide David Mixner predicted, "It will be Camelot against 'Star Wars'," inspiring Star Wars themed items in a political market. "Yoda for President" has since had several iterations in merchandising since this original button.