RFK

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Text on Button RFK
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White text on a red and blue background

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Robert Francis Kennedy, the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy, was just as entrenched in the political arena as his brother. With terms as the U.S. Attorney General from 1960-1964 and as a U.S. Senator from 1964-1968 the younger Kennedy garnered significant prominence in his career. His support of Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King Jr. as well as his ruthless pursuit of organized crime made him well-liked among voters. In 1968 he mounted a Presidential campaign to unseat Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson but was assassinated after leaving The Ambassador Hotel just after winning the California primary election. 

Catalog ID PO0947

Vote for Charlie Brown

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Text on Button VOTE FOR CHARLIE BROWN
Image Description

Blue text on a white background

Curl Text union bug
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Charlie Brown is a main character in the Peanuts comic strip and first appeared on October 2, 1950. His earlier persona was portrayed as a practical joker and not the meek and nervous character that is more commonly portrayed in later versions. He has a little sister named Sally and a human-like dog, a pet Beagle named Snoopy.

Catalog ID EN0481

Public School 20 Queens G.O.

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Text on Button P. S. 20 QUEENS G.O. G.O.
Image Description

Red text and an illustration of a person playing a horn wearing a red hat and coat

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Public School 20 John Browne Elementary is a school located in Queens, New York. It appears in newspaper records as early as 1905. One of the most popular clubs was the General Organization (G.O.), a student government club. The school is named after John Browne who was an early advocate for religious freedoms in colonial America.

Sources

Rose breaks record at pastime A.C. games. (1905, January 1). The Brooklyn Citizen, 27(1), p. 2.

Catalog ID CL0479

Aint I Cute

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Text on Button AINT I CUTE
Image Description

Red text on a white background with a blue and white checkered outer edge

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“Ain’t I cute” cheekily asks the reader to confirm that the wearer of this slogan is indeed cute. It is one of a series of suggestive novelty buttons issued by Johnson Smith & Company in the 1930s. The buttons in this series all share the visual features of blue and white alternating rectangles around the perimeter of the button with red sans serif font boasting flirty expressions. The frivolous and fun nature of these buttons and other novelty goods produced in the 1920s and 1930s was purported by Johnson Smith & Co. as “provid[ing] an escape for people wracked with economic struggle brought on by WWI and the Great Depression” (Johnson Smith Company, LinkedIn).

Johnson Smith & Co. originated in 1914 as a novelty item mail-order company based in Chicago, IL. The company later moved to Racine, WI, Detroit, MI, and ultimately, Bradenton, FL. Though their website is now defunct, it was active as of 2012. Johnson Smith & Co. often advertised in print media aimed at young adults such as Action Comics, Boys’ Life, Popular Mechanics, and MAD. These ads and larger catalogs were influential in the development of American graphic design.

Sources

Johnson Smith Company. (n.d.) About Us. LinkedIn. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from, https://www.linkedin.com/company/johnson-smith-company.

Ted Hake. (n.d.) Johnson Smith Famous Novelty Supply House 1930s Suggestive Slogan Button. Ted Hake. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from, https://www.tedhake.com/JOHNSON_SMITH_FAMOUS_NOVELTY_SUPPLY_HOUSE_1930s….

Sedelmaier, J.J. (2012, April 9). Amazing X-Ray Glasses And 9000 Other Novelties – Johnson Smith & Co. PRINT. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.printmag.com/post/amazing-x-ray-glasses-and-9000-other-nove….

Catalog ID IB0585

Gotcha

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Text on Button GOTCHA!!
Image Description

Black text on a yellow background

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Gotcha is a North American slang term meaning "I have got you." It is used to express having won over or tricked someone. It has been used when publicly exposing a person who has been caught in doing something that they were trying to hide from others.

Catalog ID IB0570

Green Go

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Text on Button GO
Image Description

White text on a green background

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GERAGHTY & COMPANY 3035-37 W. LAKE ST. CHICAGO, U.S.A.

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Green light go is a term that originated in the late 1800s for the signal used by railroads to indicate that a train could proceed and later cars. It is also a general slang term that give permission for one to proceed with whatever they are doing.

Sources

Green light, the. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/the-green-light

Catalog ID IB0595

Howdy! Be a Chuloo

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Text on Button HOWDY! BE A CHULOO
Image Description

Black text and an illustration of a face on a yellow background

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ST. LOUIS BUTTON CO. ST. LOUIS

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“Howdy! Be a Chuloo” was a marketing campaign for Colgan’s Taffy Tolu. Known as “The Original Chewing Gum,” Taffy Tolu was the first flavored chewing gum created in the 1860s by pharmacist John Colgan. Pinback buttons such as these were distributed in drugstores to promote the Colgan product. The slogan “Be a Chuloo (For Chewing Gum”) was patented by The Meek Company in 1907.

Sources

Gibson, K. (February 21, 2020). Louisville Unearthed: Flavored chewing gum was invented here. Hello Louisville. https://www.hellolouisvilleky.com/blog/louisville-unearthed-flavored-chewing-gum-was-invented-here

 

Catalog ID AD0827

I'd Lather Die Than Miss the Soaps

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Text on Button I'd lather die than miss the soaps
Image Description

Black text and an illustration of a tv on a pink background

Curl Text TM ARC Imports Inc. Pawtucket, RI
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"I'd lather die than miss the soaps" is a play on "I'd rather die than miss the show" that expresses how a soap opera television fan doesn't want to miss these programs. A bar of soap lathers with suds from water and is used to clean a person's body in the shower or the bathtub and this is where "lather" is used instead of "rather" in the phrase. A "soap" opera is technically called a operatic drama which is a series of radio or television episodes about overly sentimental people in melodramatic situations.  Many of the early radio programs were sponsored by soap manufacturers, hence the term "soap opera." Prior to the digital age, many shows including soap operas had so many daily episodes that they were not shown in reruns. If you missed one day of a soap opera's daily program, it was difficult to find information about what was missed.

Sources

Soap opera. (2020). Retrieved on October 30, 2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera

Catalog ID IB0574