Javelin Play Button

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Text on Button JAVELIN CANYON CANDY
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Photograph of a gold six-pointed star surrounded by gold circle against white background. Black text on center of star and surrounding circle.

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PLAYBUTTON

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Canyon Candy is an album by the indie electronic duo Javelin. Soon after the release of Canyon Candy, the artists began a project to create a companion film to the album. Donors to the film's Kickstarter campaign were rewarded with a limited edition Canyon Candy Playbutton.

Now nearly obsolete, the Playbutton was a wearable mp3 player stored inside a button. The mp3 player was just large enough to play a single album, whose cover art was displayed on the front of the button. The innovative design included a headphone jack and built-in playback controls for ease of listening. The Playbutton came with a commemorative box and headphone jack adaptor. 

Sources

Kelly, Z. (2011, April 28). Javelin: Canyon Candy EP album review. Retrieved from https://pitchfork.com/

Museum of Obsolete Media. (n.d.). Playbutton (2011-). Retrieved from http://www.obsoletemedia.org/playbutton/

Ridden, P. (2011, January 3). The album's on the button badge. Retrieved from https://newatlas.com/playbutton-music-in-a-badge-format-announced/17434/

Catalog ID IN0108

Dick Gregory for President

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Text on Button Write in DICK GREGORY PRESIDENT PEACE AND FREEDOM
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Black, yellow and red lettering alternate on a black background. Top line of text written in normal sentence structure, while the remainder of text is in all capital letters.

Curl Text illegible (union bug)
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Dick Gregory, born Richard Claxton Gregory on October 12, 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri was a comedian, political activist and entrepreneur. He ran for United States president as a Write in candidate in various states representing the Peace and Freedom Party in the 1968 Presidential Election. Prior to this, he was a candidate in Chicago’s 1966 mayoral race in which he lost to Richard J. Daley. His decision to enter into politics was because he felt that the two-party system of Republicans and Democrats was obsolete and corrupt and was unsuccessful with helping solve the issues of Americans. Dick Gregory’s platform called for civil rights, racial and social justice and peace in Vietnam. After his unsuccessful presidential run, he wrote a book entitled Write Me In about his presidential campaign. At age 84, Dick Gregory died on August 19, 2017 of heart failure at a hospital in Washington, D.C.

The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) was founded on June 23, 1967, and is described as being focused on socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism, and racial equality. It's main goal is for communities to maintain stability and everyone to live in peace and harmony.

Here is a video of Dick Gregory's presidential candidacy interview, 1968:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UofbZVTIYMU

Catalog ID PO0951

North Dakota Flax

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Text on Button COME TO THE "LAKE REGION" North Dakota WHERE ONE CROP OF FLAX PAYS FOR THE LAND
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Black text on a white background around a window that shows the button filled with flax seeds

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WHITEHEAD & HOAG CO. NEWARK NJ

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North Dakota is the leading producer of flax for oil and food use in the United States.  U.S. human consumption of flax seed is increasing rapidly for its high dietary fiber, omega-3 oils and anti-carcinogenic lignans.  Flax also has other uses such as industrial and livestock use.

Catalog ID IN0110

Girl Scouts Mystery Trip

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Text on Button MYSTERY TRIP ? ? ? ? Girl Scouts 1977
Image Description

Illustration of a yellow school bus with black text on the side and black text above on a white background

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The Girl Scouts of America was established in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low in the midst of the Progressive Era. The program grants young girls a variety of opportunities to explore their environments through educational projects, traditional ceremonies, and outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, and swimming. Though scouts are often involved in the planning of their trips and activities, to help them better earn their badges, "Mystery Trips" are planned solely by scout leaders as theme-oriented excursions revolving around local sites and history. Scouts can sign up for the trips based only off the knowledge of the themes and will not know what activities or sites they entail until they arrive at their destinations.

Sources

Girl Scouts of the United States of America. (2018). Our Vision. Retrieved from https://www.girlscouts.org/en/about-girl-scouts/our-history.html

Catalog ID EV0502

Emporia Centennial

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Text on Button BROTHER OF THE BRUSH EMPORIA CENTENNIAL 1857 - 1957 June 30 - July 6
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Illustration of a man with a beard in profile next to red text on a white rectangle on a black stripe over a white strip with black text, over a red stripe with black text

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Emporia is a town between Topeka and Wichita in eastern Kansas. In 1957, the town celebrated 100 years by hosting a centennial celebration. To promote the event, Centennial officials went to neighboring towns with a band and presented leaders of the town with various souvenirs including a shaving permit. The shaving permits were a product of the Brothers of the Brush who were a fundraising group that would show up in towns during times of celebrations. Participants were required to start the contest with a freshly shaven face and then not shave throughout the contest, usually months leading up to the celebration event. There were prizes for various categories, such as fastest growing and best mustache. If you didn’t participate in the event, you were encouraged to buy a pin that allowed you to shave and wear it in public. If you were caught without one, you could be subject to a voluntary fine. The proceeds from the fundraiser were given to the town. One local reporter, upon learning about the Brothers of the Brush descending upon the town’s celebration, opined if there were not better and more unique fundraising opportunities available. 

The week-long celebration in Emporia began with a parade of nearly 200 participants including the company band from nearby Fort Riley. Approximately 20,000 people attended the parade including Kansas Governor George Docking. The celebration also featured a Centennial Ball in which a Centennial Queen was crowned. A nightly pageant was also put on to celebrate Emporia’s past, present, and future.

Sources

Brothers of the brush/sister of the swish (n.d.). In Sesquicentennial celebration Lehighton. Retrieved from https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/lw3614_brothers.pdf

Mayor with hit jackpot when caravan visits. Council Grove Republican, 84(118), p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/image/345071341/

Whiskers again. (1957, February 21). Council Grove Republican, 84(38), p. 2. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/image/345067398

Catalog ID EV0506

United Automobile Workers 1938

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Text on Button INTERNATIONAL UNION-UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS of AMERICA CHARTERED AUG. 26, 1936 NOVEMBER C.I.O 1938
Image Description

Black text and an illustration of a car over a circle over a sunburst inside a circle with text around it on a gold background

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BASTIAN BROS. CO. MFRS OF RIBBON, METAL AND CELLULOID NOVELTIES ROCHESTER, NY

Curl Text BASTIAN BROS. CO. ROCHESTER, NY union bug
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The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America is more commonly known as United Automobile Workers. It was founded in 1935 and fought for higher wages and pensions for auto workers in the United States and Canada. Today, members work in the automobile, healthcare, and higher education industries. 

Catalog ID CL0501

Tonsils Out Club Methodist Hospital

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Text on Button 'TONSILS OUT' CLUB METHODIST HOSPITAL
Image Description

An illustration of a yellow duck with yellow text around outer edge of button

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The term "Tonsils Out Club" appeared on pinback buttons and greeting cards in and around the mid-twentieth century. This was around the same time that tonsillectomy became the most commonly administered surgery in the United States. Institutions such as Methodist Hospital sometimes had special "Tonsils Out Club" pins made for patients, possibly as a means of advertising to other potential tonsillectomy patients.

Tonsillectomy is a procedure for the removal of the tonsils, or normally occurring tissue found near the opening to the throat. The surgery gained popularity in the years between 1915 and 1960, with physicians recommending tonsillectomy for everything from chronic sore throat to deafness and halitosis. The procedure's popularity peaked in 1959, when doctors in the US performed approximately 1.4 million tonsillectomies, mostly on children. Tonsillectomy lost popularity in the 1960s as evidence increasingly refuted the procedure's supposed benefits. Today, tonsillectomy is mostly recommended for the treatment of airway obstruction or chronic tonsillitis.

Sources

Grob, G. N. (2007, April 10). The rise and decline of tonsillectomy in twentieth-century America. <em>Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 62</em>(4), 383-421. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhmas/jrm003

​Kharodawala, M. (2005, April). <em>The modern tonsillectomy</em>. Grand rounds presentation, University of Texas. Retrieved from https://www.utmb.edu/otoref/grnds/Tonsillectomy-2005-0427/Tonsillectomy…

Catalog ID CL0485

The Shrine Club

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Text on Button THE SHRINE CLUB
Image Description

Illustration of a red fez bellow red text on a beige background.

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ST. LOUIS BUTTON CO. MFRS., ST. LOUIS, MO

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Shriners International, commonly known as The Shriners, were founded in 1870 by a group of Freemasons who wanted to form a fraternity based on fun and fellowship. The fez was adopted as the official headgear and symbol for The Shriners in 1872. In 1919, the fraternity decided to commit themselves to a philanthropic cause and there are now 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Today they have more than 200 temples in North America, South America, Europe and Southeast Asia. 

Catalog ID CL0481

Sunny Jim Club

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Text on Button SUNNY JIM CLUB WISCONSIN NEWS
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Illustration of a man on a white background with purple text and a purple outer edge

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The Sunny Jim Club was a fan club for Sunny Jim's Radio Hour on WISN in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At that time, WISN served as a branch of the Wisconsin News, a major local paper. 

"Sunny Jim" was a pseudonym for J. Nash McCrea. At the time that the show aired, McCrea was also working as a sports writer for Wisconsin News and the Milwaukee Sentinel. Aside from his work in newspaper and radio, McCrea is more widely remembered as a champion bicyclist, who at the age of 17 entered the 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis, Missouri. McCrea did not win a medal, but he did earn the nickname "Crash McCrea" for his reckless riding habits. In his later years, McCrea became active in the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild, serving as both president and secretary.

Sources

J. Nash McCrea. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mc/j-nash-mccrea-1.h…

Mallon, B. (1999) <em>The 1904 Olympic games: Results for all competitors in all events, with commentary.</em> Jefferson, NC: McFarland &amp; Company, Inc. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/

WISN (AM). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WISN_(AM)

Catalog ID CL0489

Outer Drive Hero Drivers Club

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Text on Button HHHHH 6 ODHDC 1-1-61
Image Description

An illustration of a martini glass with blue and red text on a white background with an outer blue edge

Curl Text union bug
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The Outer Drive Hero Drivers Club, or ODHDC, is a Chicago-area club dedicated to "the serious sports car driver who has become too damn serious". With no charter and no regular meetings, the club's only official gathering is its annual New Year's Day scavenger hunt, the Heroes' Happy Holiday Hangover Hassle, or HHHHH. Anyone who attends the event becomes a de facto member of the club.

At the 1961 event, participants were required to turn in receipts from five separate bars; after which awards were bestowed including dark glasses, a hangover kit, and a bar stool with a seat belt attached. The winning team drove a hearse and was required -in keeping with a tradition that remains to this day- to plan the next year's HHHHH.

More recent events appear to have been less alchohol-fueled and more trivia-oriented. Focusing on Chicago-area history and culture, event themes have included railroads, public libraries, and terracotta buildings.

Sources

Carlisle, B. and J. (1961, May). Here's Happy Holiday Hangover Hassle. The Rallye Route, 56-59. Retrieved from http://www.odhdc.org/EarlyHistory.html&nbsp;

Laskow, S. (2016, December 22). Chicago's greatest New Year's Day tradition is a car rally scavenger hunt. Retrieved from https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chicagos-greatest-new-years-day-t…

Outer Drive Hero Drivers Club. (n.d.). Outer Drive Hero Drivers Club annually presents the Heroes' Happy Holiday Hangover Hassle each year on New Year's Day. Retrieved from http://www.odhdc.org/

Catalog ID CH0270