Blue text over a white illustration of steam on a yellow background

GE, the General Electric Company, was founded 1892 in New York when American inventor Thomas Edison's company, Edison General Electric Company and the Thomas-Houston Company merged together. GE originally focused on finding new ways to harness the power of electricity and building electrical equipment, including locomotives, transformers, and X-ray machines. Since their inception, GE has expanded exponentially and now has 12 distinct primary business divisions, including aviation, healthcare, and renewable energy. Despite changes within the company, their logo-featuring the "GE" monogram-has remained generally the same since 1892. This iteration of their monogram was used from 1934 to 1969.

Illustration of a clown's head with an orange and white hat, orange hair and nose, green eyes and pink cheeks on a pink background with white text outlined in blue, blue text and blue outlined text.

Circus Circus Reno hotel and casino is part of a network of connected hotels in downtown Reno, Nevada. The casino also features free circus acts and numerous carnival games. The Reno casino opened in 1978 under Circus Circus Enterprises, a year after Circus Circus Las Vegas was opened. Pictured on this button is Topsy the Clown, the mascot of Circus Circus. Topsy was designed by Gordon Tietjen and produced by the Young Electric Sign Company. Today the hotel and casino are owned by Eldorado Resorts.

Black and white photograph of a man in a dark hat and white shirt holding a knife over a white area with red text

Benihana is an American restaurant that serves Japanese cuisine. The restaurant features authentic Japanese farmhouse interior including samurai armor and sliding Shoji screens. The food is prepared theatrically on steel teppanyaki grills in front of customers.

Blue text and an illustration of a chick on a pink background

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Topps Co. was founded in 1938 and today sells predominantly candy and sports memorabilia. In 1965, Topps began producing “Wise Guy” metal pins that featured satire for novelty and humor. Like the collectible sports cards sold by the company, these buttons came in colorful packages and were sold for a nickel a piece. Though some buttons made by Topps came with its trademark bubble gum, “Wise Guy” pins did not.

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Blue text on a pink heart on a blue background

The original form of the "I heart" and "I love" logos was the I heart NY logo created in 1977 by Milton Glaser for an ad campaign created by advertising agency Wells Rich Greene. The marketing campaign was sought by then-Deputy Commissioner William S. Doyle to increase tourism in the state of New York. The campaign was a wild success. The original sketch of the logo is permanently on display at the MOMA.

The "I love" and "I heart" logos have become iconic in pop-culture and have been imitated in many forms around the world, like on this button promoting self-love.  

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Black and white text on a red background with an illustration of a man's head with black hair and a hat

Davy Jones was an English actor and musician popular in the 60's and 70's. He came to the United Sates and was part of the band The Monkees.  He appeared with his band members on the television show, The Monkees. The show was full of slap-stick comedy and music. Jones wrote and performed many songs on the show and his biggest hit was Daydream Believer. The band split in 1971, however Jones continued to perform, write songs and act until his death in 2012.

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The first National Milk Week took place on November 14th through 20th, 1937. A joint project of the National Milk Producers Federation and the Milk Industry Foundation, the publicity campaign sought to increase milk consumption in the United States and to educate the public about the beverage's health benefits. 

Alongside the usual publicity buttons and print ads, the Milk Week campaign recruited newspaper columnists and government officials to tout the nutritional benefits of milk. Popular movie stars posed for posters while drinking the beverage. A train station in Boston honored the week by temporarily housing two cows in its outdoor concourse. The cows were milked twice a day in full view of commuters, to whom the milk was later sold.

In the years that followed, National Milk Week was eclipsed by June Milk Month, which was founded in the same year and which remains in place to this day.

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This button promoted the premiere of the 1938 movie Boy Meets Girl, an adaptation of the 1935 stage play with the same name. Produced by Warner Brothers Studios and directed by Lloyd Bacon, Boy Meets Girl starred James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. It tells the story of two Hollywood screenwriters who cast a pregnant studio waitress' baby in a Western movie. When the lead actor dislikes having a baby as a co-star, the screenwriters plot a scheme to have the waitress seduced and whisked away from show business. The phrase "Girl 2534" was most likely a serial or raffle number used in promotional activities.