The Red Coats Are Coming

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Text on Button THE RED COATS ARE COMING!
Image Description

Black and red text around a red, white and black bulls eye on a white background

Curl Text BASTIAN BROS. CO. ROCHESTER, N.Y. union bug
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“The Redcoats are coming!” is a phrase often attributed to Paul Revere during his Midnight Ride to alert the colonial militia of the British, effectively starting the American Revolutionary War. Revere was a silversmith in Boston who supported colonial independence from Britain. He was part of an intelligence gathering and alarm system to report on British movement in the colonies. On the night of April 18, 1775, he and some 40 others rode throughout the area to warn of the British plans to secure munitions from Lexiton and Concord. Revere’s ride almost cost him his life while he was captured with other suspected rebels, but was able to escape and continue his journey. His exact phrase of his warning has been debated, he may have said “The Regulars are coming!”, “Redcoats,” or “King’s men.” He did not use the phrase, “The British are coming!” This phrase has become popular in the lore around Revere’s ride but he would not have used it since many of the colonists considered themselves to be British. 

Catalog ID IB0605

Pray for Sex

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Text on Button PRAY FOR SEX
Image Description

Blue text on a light green background

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“Pray for Sex” is a humorous play on a surfing term and refers specifically to graffiti painted on a rock on Makua Beach in Oahu, Hawaii. Local surfers originally used the common phrase “Pray for Surf” which evolved to “Pray for Sets” referring to “sets” of waves. In the 1960s, “Pray for Sex” was spray-painted on a Makua Beach rock and has since become part of surf culture lexicon.

Sources

Not a hawaiian aphrodisiac chant – pray for sex beach. (2014, January 31). Hawaii Aloha Travel. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from https://www.hawaii-aloha.com/blog/2008/10/11/not-a-hawaiian-aphrodisiac…

Catalog ID IB0598

Joy Oval

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Text on Button joy
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Orange text on a white background

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Joy is a great feeling of happiness.

1960s era fonts were often used in slogans which promoted peace, love, and joy rather than war. The war between the USA and Vietnam went from Nov 1, 1955 to Apr 30, 1975.

The peace, love, and joy phrase was used by Hippies, short for hipsters, a subculture which began in the 1950s beatnik coffee house scene predominately in San Francisco. Hippies continue to exist today with new generations of liberal minded activists who believe in peace, love, and joy.

Catalog ID IB0603

Jazz and Get Fat

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Text on Button JAZZ AND GET FAT
Image Description

Black text on a white background with a red and white checkered outer edge

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Comic Motto Buttons, as they became known sometime in the 1940s (previously known as Comic Celluloid Buttons), hailed from Johnson Smith & Co. catalogues and became popular in the early to mid-20th century. Recognized by their iconic checkered border and featuring salacious slogans and witty banter, the catalogue promised, “Get acquainted – wear these comic celluloid buttons. Slip one or two of these buttons on your lapel and then wait for the wisecracks to begin. The girls get lots of fun out of them. At parties, you break the ice right from the start. Just give one of these to your guest, and it gives the party a flying start.” 

Johnson Smith & Company began in Chicago, Illinois in 1914 as a mail-order novelty and gag gift supplier, settling in Racine, Wisconsin in 1926. Johnson Smith & Co. or Johnson Smith Company sold an array of toys including pinback buttons with suggestive slogans meant as ice breakers.

While there’s no evidence that 'jazz and get fat' was a widely used phrase in the early 20th century, there is a strong connection that exists between jazz culture and New Orleans. The Jazz Age, marked by speakeasies and rebellion, mirrored the celebratory excess of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where 'Fat Tuesday' symbolizes feasting before Lent.

Sources

Birnkrant, M. (n.d.). Small things: Remembering Johnson Smith & Company [blog post]. Mel Birnkrant.com. https://melbirnkrant.com/recollections/page49.html

Johnson Smith & Co. (1938). Johnson Smith & Company Catalog No. 148. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/johnson-smith-company-catalog-no.-148-1938

Johnson Smith & Co. (1951). Novelties Johnson Smith and co 1951 catalog. Internet Archive. https://ia803405.us.archive.org/5/items/novelties-johnson-smith-and-co-1951-catalog/Novelties%20Johnson%20%20Smith%20and%20Co%201951%20catalog_text.pdf

Johnson Smith Co. (2017). About Our Company. Johnson Smith Company. https://web.archive.org/web/20170929033510/http://www.johnsonsmith.com/aboutus/ 

Mob Museum. (n.d.). The rise of jazz and jukeboxes. Prohibition: And Interative History. https://prohibition.themobmuseum.org/the-history/how-prohibition-changed-american-culture/jazz-and-jukeboxes/

National Park Service. (1993). Jazz origins in New Orleans. National Historical Park Louisiana. https://www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/history_early.htm

Ted Hake. (n.d.). Johnson Smith famous novelty supply house 1930s funny saying button with rebus [auction listing]. TedHake.com. https://www.tedhake.com/JOHNSON_SMITH_FAMOUS_NOVELTY_SUPPLY_HOUSE_1930s_FUNNY_SAYING_BUTTON_WITH_REBUS_-ITEM804.aspx

Ted Hake Vintage Buttons & More. (2019a). Johnson Smith famous novelty supply house 1930s suggestive slogan button [Make it hot for me] [eBay listing]. eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/141168405871

Ted Hake Vintage Buttons & More. (2019b). Johnson Smith famous novelty supply house 1930s suggestive slogan button [I’m a red hot mama] [eBay listing]. eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/141168405896

Catalog ID IB0599

I've Got Green Roots

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Text on Button I'VE GOT GREEN ROOTS!
Image Description

Green text on an illustration of a person with orange hair wearing a green suit with mushrooms on the ground.

Back Paper / Back Info

$1.00
MADE IN U.S.A.
1980
HALLMARK CARD

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St. Patrick's Day began as a religious holiday in honor of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. A national holiday in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is also a celebration of Irish culture. This latter meaning is the primary focus of St. Patrick's Day celebrations throughout the Irish diaspora.

In the United States in particular, St. Patrick's Day is a celebration of Irish ancestry, or "Irish roots". A significant number of Americans claim Irish heritage. In 2013, for instance, 33 million US citizens, or ten percent of the population, claimed Irish ancestry. Boston, Massachusetts holds a large St. Patrick's Day parade every year to honor the Irish heritage of many of its citizens. Nearly a quarter of Massachusetts residents claim Irish ancestry.

Sources

Irish Americans. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 21, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Americans#Sense_of_heritage

St. Patrick's Day. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 21, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day

Catalog ID IB0602

I've Got a Crush On You

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Text on Button I've got a Crush on you
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Blue text on a peach background

Curl Text 5710 MADE IN U.S.A.
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“I’ve got a crush on you” is a phrase used to tell another person that you have romantic feelings for them. A crush is usually a short period of strong romantic feelings for a person that often goes unrequited. The phrase is also a title of a popular 1930s song performed by George Gershwin and written by Ira Gershwin.

Catalog ID IB0592