Black and red text on a white background

This button is likely a political slogan and worn to support a political campaign of Mayor Richard J. Daley. Daley served as the mayor of Chicago from 1955 until 1976, his death. Daley’s tight control over Chicago politics earned him the nickname as “the last of the big-city bosses.” He has been reelected in 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971, and 1975, serving five full terms and a partial term. It is the longest-serving mayor to date. He mainly focused on municipal services and architectural projects to contribute to the image of Chicago as “the city that works.” His reputation for personal honesty, hard work, and openness to the press is what led the voters of Chicago to bring a tremendous amount of loyalty and reelect him for each term. Before serving as the mayor, Daley also served as a state representative and senator, the state director of revenue, and the clerk of Cook County.

Blue illustration of a football helmet and blue text on an orange background

The Chicago Bears played in Superbowl XX in January of 1986. They were the National Football Conference champions playing against the American Football Conference champions, the New England Patriots. The Bears won their fist NFL championship with a score of 46-10. They only had one loss during the 1985 season.

White text on a yellow background

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Illustration of two football helmets and blue and orange texts on a white background

Super Bowl XX was an American football game which took place on January 26, 1986 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The game was between the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots. This was the Super Bowl debut for both teams and the Bears defeated the Patriots by 46-10 and won their first National Football League championship since 1963. The Bears defensive end Richard Dent was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XX. 

White text on a blue circle with red text on a white outer edge

To help fund the Second World War, banks across the United States sold War Bonds to individuals who wanted to put their money behind the national cause. The money collected from these bonds was infused into the U.S. Treasury and went toward the American war effort during the 1940s. A record 85 million Americans financially pitched in by purchasing Defense or War Bonds and made contributions of over $185 billion. Of any nation, the United States proved most successful in its War Bond campaign and rode to victory on its large wave of support from the home front.

The War Finance Committee was in charge of selling and advertising the bonds. Rather than paying for advertising, the Committee opted to solicit space donations from newspapers and magazines. So much space was contributed that the Committee was able to save $250 million in advertising expenses while bringing awareness of the War Bonds campaign to more than 90% of Americans. Private companies and organizations also helped to advertise the bonds. The First Federal Savings and Loan Association—a nationwide commercial bank now simply referred to as First Federal Savings—helped advertise bonds by creating posters and pin-back buttons. These marketing materials urged Americans to help defend the nation by saving money to make financial contributions in the form of War Bond purchases.

Blue text next to the Old Style logo on a white background

Old Style beer began in La Crosse, a town in Western Wisconsin. German immigrant, Gottlieb Heileman, originally called his beer Golden Leaf Lager in the 1890’s but this grew into Old Style which first appeared in stores in 1902. Even in the beginning Heileman's beer was a success and that first year in stores he produced 160,000 barrels. In the 1930s, Old Style expanded to sell lager too and moved operations to Chicago. Soon after in 1950, Old Style had become so popular in the city they began sponsoring the Chicago Cubs. Today baseball fans can still enjoy Old Style at Wrigley Field. For those who love all things Hileman, the G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin is the creator of La Croix sparkling water too! 

Blue and orange illustration of a bird on a light blue background with black text along the bottom

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Black text on an orange background

Traction Heritage periodicals were started around the turn of the century, circa 1900s, as a way to get information about upcoming railway technology distributed. Various issues mentioned train cars images and statistics. In later editions, the periodicals included selections from various issues of the Street Railway Journal and electric model trains.

Green text on a white background

7Up is a lemon-lime flavored caffeine-free soft drink that was created by Charles Leiper Grigg in 1929. Originally called “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda,” 7Up contained the mood-stabilizing drug lithium citrate until 1948. In the 1950s, 7Up unveiled a new advertising campaign that declared “Nothing Does It Like 7Up!”. Print ads for this campaign featured black and white drawings of people of all ages enjoying the lemon-lime soda in an attempt to market 7Up as a drink the whole family could enjoy. A few of these ads even featured babies drinking 7Up, claiming that the soft drink was “so pure, so wholesome” that “you can give it to babies and feel good about it”. The ads suggested that moms mix equal parts 7Up with milk for a “wholesome combination” that would encourage even the pickiest of toddlers to drink their milk.

Sources
Bellis, M. (2017, April 5). The history of 7Up - Charles Leiper Grigg: The development of a lemon-lime soda. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-7up-charles-leiper-grigg-4075324​

Parekh, R. (2012, August 27). Rewind: '50s era 7Up campaign depicted soda-guzzling babies. Retrieved from https://adage.com/article/news/rewind-50s-era-7up-campaign-depicted-soda-guzzling-babies/236867/

Illustration of an airplane with text above and below on an off white background

The Megow's Philadelphia Models was named after its founder Fred W. Megow. Megow saw the growth of the aviation industry and began experimenting with model airplanes in the late 1920s. In 1929, he founded "Megow's Model Airplane Shop" which was one of the earliest companies to produce and sell airplane modeling kits. The business ceased operation in 1949.