White bike on large blue rectangle above white text on a smaller red rectangle. The background of the button is white.

Founded in 1895 in Chicago, IL, Schwinn has become one of the most well-known makers of bicycles in the United States. The Varsity, an 8-speed adult touring bike, was introduced in 1960 as a way to show adults that bicycles were not just for children, and it quickly caught on. The Varsity fell out of favor in the 1970s when more lightweight bicycles became preferable for riders.

Red and black text with an illustration of a pink pig around the red text on a white background

Polish ham is a type of canned or prepackaged ham, often associated with the Polish meat company Krakus. It is similar to other types of prepackaged ham such as the American SPAM, but generally has less fat, water, and salt content. It is typically of a higher quality than other ham products, being made from premium cuts of meat. For many families in Poland and the United States, it is an important traditional food, consumed especially during the holidays. 

White lettering in all capitals on a red background.

The slogan, “Are you man enough to eat Granny Goose”, was used in an advertising campaign for Granny Goose potato chips and other snack products. The products were first introduced in 1946 by Granny Goose Foods Inc. which was founded in Oakland, California and they can still be found in the Western United States currently being produced by Shearer’s Foods under the Snak-King Corp trademark. The ad campaign was popular in the 1960s and 1970s when the company aired commercials that starred actor Philip Carey who was portrayed as “Granny Goose” and later went on to play Asa Buchanan on the soap opera One Life to Live.

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General Electric (GE) was formed in 1852 as a merger of three separate electrical companies including the Edison Electric Light Company founded by Thomas Alva Edison. One of the major innovations by GE was the toaster. The GE Toast-R-Oven took the world by storm in 1957 and within the decade, nearly every home in the United States had a toaster. In 2014, the Swedish brand Electrolux bought the GE Appliances brand.

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Herman Ginsberg took over the family business, then known as Ginsberg’s Jewel Box, after his college graduation from University of Iowa in 1948 when the current employee running the store left the store unlocked and a note that read, “I quit.” In 1969, the family business expanded to a second location at an indoor mall in Iowa City, IA. The business would later grow to 5 locations with the flagship store of Ginsberg Jewelers staying in Cedar Rapids, IA.

The phrase, "When you're ready," may refer to the time to purchase jewelry.

Yellow and blue illustration of a lemonhead character on a blue oval with two yellow lemons on the left with yellow and blue text on a white background

Lemonhead candy has been manufactured by the Ferrara Pan Candy Company since 1962. The candy is created using the cold panned process just like Red Hots, another Ferrara Pan candy. To create candy using this method you create the center of the candy, then toss these pieces into spinning pans while adding color, flavor, and miscellaneous ingredients. In the early 2000s, Ferrara Pan Candy Company created a range of candies inspired by the original Lemonhead; including Orangehead, Cherryhead, Applehead, and Grapehead.

A surge of anti-drug rhetoric and campaigning took place in the 1970s. The Nixon administration Ad Council spent over 100 million dollars on anti-drug campaigning between 1970 and 1972. One of the first taglines of the campaign was “Why do you think they call it dope?” Many other taglines revolving around dope and anti-drug messaging circulated at the time. Originally in the 1880s, opium was referred to as dope. By the 1970s, dope was used mainly to refer to marijuana, although today, dope is used to refer to a number of different drugs.

Illustration of a smiling white ghost gesturing with its hand. Blue text and white text outlined in blue over an orange background. 

The AMC Spirit was a compact car produced by American Motors Corporation from 1979 to 1983. The Spirit was marketed as a restyled replacement for the popular Gremlin that was produced during the preceding years, from 1970 to 1978. Because of the relative inexpensiveness and strength of the Spirit, it was often used for drag racing. In 1987, American Motors Corporation was acquired by Chrysler Corporation.

Illustration to make the white button look like a baseball with blue text and white plastic feet attached

The Chicago White Sox are an American Major League baseball team. Originally founded as a minor league team in 1894, the Chicago White Sox were initially known as the Sioux City, Iowa Cornhuskers before moving to Chicago as a major league team. The team's final name change to the White Sox became official in 1904. The Chicago White Sox are also referred to as the “South Siders” in relation to their location to another Chicago baseball team, the Chicago Cubs.

The 1959 World Series featured the Chicago White Sox versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. Known as the “Go-Go Sox”, they were last in the American League in home runs but led in stolen bases and fielding percentage. During the 1959 season, they were sponsored by Standard Oil, which produced buttons with little white socks attached in support of the team. This series marked the first set of games ever played on the West coast and included the first game to exceed 90,000 fans in attendance. This was also the first game where neither team’s pitcher pitched a complete game. The Sox ultimately lost to the Dodgers in a 4-2 game series.

Blue text around a red question mark on a white background with an outer blue edge

"We never guess, we look it up!" was the slogan for World Book Encyclopedias. Salesmen from this company would give buttons with the slogan to prospective customers. For example, the company would send representatives to visit classrooms where they would have elementary students bring these buttons home to their parents. 

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The Virgin Islands are a group of Caribbean islands and islets located southeast of the Florida peninsula. The islands were discovered by Spain at the end of the fifteenth century and traded between the Spanish, Dutch, British, French, and U.S. from discovery. The British gained stable position in 1958 with control over Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke, which are designated the British Virgin Islands in modern day. The U.S. claimed or bought St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix in 1917, and the islands Culebra and Vieques that are currently Puerto Rico in 1898.

The industry and trade history of the Virgin Islands contributes to their reputation as high quality rum distilleries. St. Croix became one of the largest producers of rum when the U.S. designated their ports tax free to compete with the English and allowed for the export business to transition from molasses to rum. Cruzan Rum was the original distillery on St. Croix, and has consistently been an innovative and competitive brand. The other brands listed on this design represent the majority of U.S. Virgin Island rum sourcing and production.