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.

Blue background with white text

"Dump Nixon" was a political rally held April 18, 1971 in Providence, Rhode Island. Students from nearby colleges gathered at 4pm with the community to show dissent for the president and the Vietnam War. The goal of the rally was to voice concerns for new leadership and a reorganization of political priorities.

White background with blue border and blue text

B.B. King was an American blues musician, songwriter, and producer who began publicly making appearances in 1949 and continued until his death in 2015. He is considered one of the most influential blues musicians of all time due to his style of soloing based on string bending and vibrato, which has earned him the nickname, "The King of Blues." B.B. King began his career on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, an area now known as a major tourist attraction because of its blues history and ties to local music festivals.

Spinner button with blue background and red spinner. Background has image of rainbow and text in yellow. Underneath rainbow is view window with black background. Each position has a character of varied colors with a white text word.

The Moodies spinner button is the creation of artist Judy Woudenberg and entrepreneur Bob Petry from Kent, Ohio. The Moodies, characters created to represent emotions and conditions, were part of Petry's business, Kent Toys Incorporated. In 1983, the Moodies boomed in popularity. From 1983-1985, Moodies were featured on stickers, buttons, fast food meal toys, calculators, shoes, and even a Tokyo security firm's logo.

Black background with image of a bat on left side. Text on right is red. Text on bottom is neon green.

"The Bat" at theme park Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, was a short-lived roller coaster that operated from 1981-1983. The park billed "The Bat" as the first and only suspended coaster in the world when it opened. The company who created "The Bat" merged with others and continued to create suspended coasters for multiple theme parks, some of which are still in operation today, notably a coaster by the same moniker at Kings Island, named in honor of this first coaster.

Orange background with multicolored animals, flora, and fauna, Black text.

Milwaukee County Zoo, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was opened in 1892 as a miniature mammal and bird display in Milwaukee’s Washington Park. The display proved to be a very popular attraction, and by the turn of the century it grew to over 800 animals on 23 acres of land. The zoo is operated by Milwaukee County Parks Commission. The button features a giraffe, gorilla, lion, butterfly, and grass.

Bugs Bunny dressed in Americana outfit on white background.Thin red and blue lines border the button. Text is in blue and red. Small copyright text is black.

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 wast finally acquired by the Six Flags Corporation in 1984. "Six Flags Great America" consistently ranks among the top amusement parks in America for its attendance.

Mickey Mouse holding a microphone; ballons and confetti on white background. Blue text with red text for brand and logo.

Mickey Mouse holds a microphone for New Year's Eve celebration for the year 1986 at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. Walt Disney World was opened in 1971 by the Walt Disney Company. Mickey Mouse is one of the "fab five" core classic characters that Disney uses frequently.

Disney pin collecting and trading was officially introduced in 1999 as a collectible activity causing the value of pins and buttons produced at Disney to increase. Modern pins are mostly enamel lapel pin, but Disney still produces celebration buttons for their resorts to give at no cost to those celebrating special events including birthdays, weddings, or first time visits.