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The TV series M*A*S*H was a popular comedy-drama series about army medics in the Korean War that ran from 1972-1983. It was known for its theme music, its well-developed characters, and for reflecting the nation’s evolving feelings about the Vietnam War. In the 1980s it inspired a novelty beer, brewed by Falstaff Brewing Corporation, and packaged in a camouflage can. Though the can promised “Premium Quality”, reviews by people currently determined to taste the 40-year-old and no-longer-produced beer range from “Ugggghhhh...” to “honestly i’ve had worse beer that was freshly canned” to “Another from the archive. Best one so far! Good carbonation.”

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Derby Days is an annual fundraising event hosted by the Sigma Chi fraternity at the University of Illinois. It is the organizations biggest and most successful philanthropy event of the year. Derby Days provides an opportunity for fraternities and sororities to give back to the community by selling merchandise, participating in competitions, and hosting blood drives to raise money for charities.

This particular Derby Days event took place in 1984 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Gamma Phi Beta Sorority and Chi Epsilon Fraternity were recognized as participants in this fundraiser. Chi Epsilon, founded in 1922 at the University of Illinois, is the civil and environmental engineering honor society. Gamma Phi Beta, established in 1874 at Syracuse University, is a social sorority with a focus on community service.

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On May 21, 2003, the World Health Organization adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) treaty. The FCTC marked the first time the World Health Organization used its international legal powers to get countries to address the devastating effects and consequences of tobacco. The treaty went into effect in February, 2005 with standards to decrease worldwide tobacco use. The FCTC encourages countries to be even stricter than the treaty outlines by suggesting reducing supply and demand for tobacco, protecting people from tobacco exposure, regulating the contents of tobacco products, and holding the tobacco industry criminally and civilly liable. 

With no regard for the treaty, the tobacco industry has continued to interfere with public health policymaking to make up for decreased profits. The Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) commits to keeping the tobacco industry out of public health policies across the world in order to protect countries from further harm.

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In 1937, Irving Caesar published a collection of children’s songs on safety. Called Sing a Song of Safety, Caesar wrote such songs with the intention that they be used in classrooms across the country. Children learned myriad safety precautions, from never crossing the street without looking, to listening to their parents, to never playing with matches, and more.

In the 1940s, carnivals gave out checkered pin-back buttons as game prizes and souvenirs, many of which had funny phrases like “You’re the One” and “Jeepers Creepers” and also included titles of famous songs of the day, like “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No ‘Mo.” This “Safety First” button may be a variation of such buttons.

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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.

Black and white photograph of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in regalia on a yellow background with blue text around the rim above and below

On July 6, 1959 Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Phillip briefly visited Chicago, Illinois during their commonwealth tour of Canada. In the first visit to Chicago by a sitting British Monarch, the royal couple were greeted by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and Illinois Governor Stratton. Their visit was celebrated with a welcoming ceremony and a parade. The royal couple also visited the Chicago International Trade Fair, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Art Institute. Only a thirteen hour visit, the event was well attended and memorabilia from the visit is archived in the Chicago History Museum. 

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Native to the grasslands of America, prairie dogs have long been considered pests by farmers who believe them to compete with livestock for resources. In the latter half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, government-initiated poisoning programs greatly reduced prairie dog populations. Kennedy N. Clapp and his wife, residents of Lubbock, Texas, were concerned about the survival of the species and established a prairie dog colony by trapping two pairs of black-tailed prairie dogs. In 1935, Mackenzie Park became a state park, and the colony was moved there.

The colony, known as Prairie Dog Town, quickly became a tourism draw and the city adopted the prairie dog as its mascot. Prairie Dog Pete served as the goodwill ambassador for the colony, with his image being used for promotional material. Clapp was named mayor of Prairie Dog Town in perpetuity, overseeing operations until his death in 1969.