Blue text on a white background

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Black text on a white illustration of a mug on a black background

Since 1980, Ephemera, Inc. has made buttons, magnets, and stickers out of their San Francisco, California headquarters. The company started out by producing pin-back buttons for local punk rock bands but later branched out to manufacture a variety of small trinkets. Today, they are located in Phoenix, Oregon and consider themselves a “maker of funny, sarcastic and offensive” buttons.

Coffee became a common beverage in the West after the mid-seventeenth century. From England to Italy, hundreds of coffee houses sprang up and became places where people could socialize all while sipping a cup of the new drink of choice. Many enjoyed it for its energizing effects, which quickly catapulted coffee into popularity. But before it replaced beer and wine as a breakfast favorite, coffee was initially viewed as the “bitter invention of Satan.” It was not until Pope Clement VIII decided to try a cup for himself that coffee was given papal approval, quelling the unfounded fears of the Catholic masses. Today, coffee is still in fashion. The variety of flavors and additives that individuals can choose from are only multiplying as the demand for personalized brews increase. Phrases like "insert coffee to begin," "but first, coffee," and "caffeine addict" are widely circulated and recognized.

White text on a black background

A curse word used to express disbelief in an event or piece of information presented as true when it is false. Literally, the feces from the animal, a bull. The first attested use of the term bullshit appears in a piece written by T.S. Eliot entitled "The Triumph of Bullshit." It's a comic ballad in which Eliot preemptively criticizes himself and his works before his critics could. The term bullshit only appears in the title.

White text on a red background

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Black text over a blue background with white fish shapes

This phrase “Are we kinder and gentler yet” was made famous by George HW “Poppy” Bush during a 1988 campaign speech. These buttons were made in opposition to the future president’s position.  The background is made up of bombs in a blue sky referring to the Gulf War. The phrase was again brought to popularity in 2010 by Sir Elton John, when he stated that the USA was a “mean-spirited nation” and he “hoped it would become a kinder and gentler one”.

Dark pink text on a yellow background

Adults Only signs were created by businesses to mark areas unapproved for children. This could be due to products pertaining to sex, or due to the availability of alcohol as is the case with nightclubs and bars.

Black text on an orange star on a black background

The classic storyline of A Star is Born has been remade three times. Though the plot slightly changes each time, the basic storyline stays the same. An average everyday woman meets a male celebrity who supports and encourages her to become a star herself. Then the man’s own career begins to go downhill, which leads to a tragic ending. The first version was made in 1937 staring Janet Gaynor. Then was re-made in 1954, with Judy Garland as the lead actress. The third version was done in 1976, the main female role was played by Barbra Streisand. The most recent version was made in 2018, which starred Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

Illustration of a green dog smoking a pipe and walking on two legs with black text above and green text below on a white background

St. Patrick’s Day is a cultural and religious holiday held on March 17 that is dedicated to the patron saint of Ireland. It is traditionally observed by the Catholic Church, but has come to be celebrated most famously by the Irish people and their descendants.

In the United States, St. Patrick’s Day is typically honored through numerous parades, copious alcohol consumption, and various displays of green. In fact, the Chicago River has been dyed green for every St. Patty’s Day since 1962. The holiday has been celebrated in the United States as far back as 1601, when Spanish explorers in St. Augustine, Florida held a feast and fired artillery pieces to mark the occasion. Today, St. Patrick’s Day is a heavily commercialized holiday for most Americans. According to The Independent, it marks the one day out of the year when non-Irish Americans “get their cod-Celtic connections out of their systems…[and] wear badges that say ‘If you’re not Irish, fake it’”.

Black text over illustrations of lipstick drawn x and o's and lip prints on a white background

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Yellow text on a black background with outlines of yellow flowers with an outer white edge

"The flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today," is a Native American proverb. The meaning of this proverb is that the ideas and changes that are begun today will not be fully seen until time passes and they are cultivated into their final form. Beginning the sentence with the flower image urges the reader or listener to see the final form of the plant now and remember that it had a small beginning as a seed.