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A circus is a popular form of entertainment consisting of trained animal acts and daring human skills. Although some elements of the circus date back to Roman times, the modern circus is founded by Philip Astley in England in 1768 after discovering to keep his balance when standing on a horse galloping in a circle with the help of centrifugal and centripetal forces. In 1770, Astely added clowns, musicians, acrobats, rope dancers, and jugglers in addition to equestrian exhibitions to provide entertainment. The circus was introduced to the United States in 1793 when John Bill Ricketts presented novelty entertainment in Philadelphia and New York City. During the 19th century, Joshuah Purdy Brown and Hachaliah Bailey developed the circus to become a traveling tent show with the help of exhibitions of exotic animals. In the 1870s, P. T. Barnum and William Coup added multiple rings and stages to expand the physical space and used rail as daily transportation to increase popularity in America and internationally. In the 1880s, Barnum partnered with Bailey to produce shows that were significantly remembered in the United States for more than a century. Throughout the years, the circus went through cosmetic changes including automobiles replacing equestrian acts. Today, the circus remains to be highly adaptable in the performing arts.

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Equestrian events at the Michigan State Fair are traditions that celebrate the magic and grandeur of horses. The state fair includes competitions in English hunt and saddle seat, Western equitation, pleasure classes, barrel racing, reining, and pulling events. The state fairgrounds became notably popular in the 1930s when horse race gambling was legalized and struggling racehorse Seabiscuit began winning races. Harness racing also became a popular sport at the fairgrounds.

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Jewel (now Jewel-Osco) is an Illinois supermarket chain. They started the Jewel Heroic Americans Club in January 1942 to sell Defense Stamps. If you went to a Jewel store and bought a 10 cent Defense Stamp for the war effort, you would get “a beautiful album and a series of 30 poster stamps of ‘Heroic Americans.” School children would get a Jewel Heroic Americans Club button when they bought their first stamp. After buying 10 stamps, children could enter a patriotic essay contest for prizes including more defense stamps.

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Municipal Trees gained popularity in the United States during the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s) in part as a philanthropic effort to bring together people of different classes in the community through one central community Christmas Tree. The 1910s saw several cities adopt Municipal Trees and citywide tree lighting ceremonies in their town squares, including New York City, Boston, and Chicago. Municipal Trees and other similar charitable organizations took up philanthropic efforts to ensure that the children of lower-income families were able to experience the magic of the holiday season, by establishing Public Christmas Trees and other funding for holiday meals and Christmas gifts. 

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In 1940, Natalie Wales Latham of New York City founded the Bundles for Britain in association with the British War Relief Society. Latham's charity organization provided knitted goods, such as socks, gloves, hats, sweaters, and scarves, to war ravaged parts of Britain. By 1941, they had expanded to 975 branches and were shipping not only clothing, but surgical instruments, medicines, cots, and blankets. Fundraising efforts included live radio broadcasts featuring popular stars like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. In January 1942, after the decision to become an American organization, they officially became the Bundles for Blue Jackets, with their headquarters in Texas. 

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The American Political Items Collectors (APIC) is a non-profit membership organization that promotes the collection, preservation, and study of political campaigns and presidency materials. The organization was founded in 1945 and holds a national convention every two years for collectors and the general public. The Mason Dixon Chapter is one of 20 geographical chapters of the APIC. Twelve specialty chapters also exist within the APIC including Locals, FDR  & Democrats, Republican, Pop Culture, and Women's Suffrage.

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The Merkel Motor Co. was established by Joseph Merkel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1902. Merkel's motorcycle company came out with the spring frame motorcycle in 1906 and then patented the spring front fork which became popular among other motorcycle producers. Merkel also developed the monoshock rear suspension which is used on modern motorcycles, and pioneered the throttle-controlled engine oiler before brands like Harley and Indian.

The Flying Merkel motorcycle was manufactured from 1911 to 1914 and displayed a trademarked light on the body of the motorcycle. It is also recognizable by it's color, which was a shiny bright orange. The iconic orange color paint has been labeled "Merkel orange". A Flying Merkel from 1911 sold at auction in 2011 for over $200,000.

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In 1992, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Larry Bird, professional basketball players of the NBA, starred in a commercial advertising a “bet” that Adbul Jabbar made with Bird. The “Ups the Bet” phrase was based on the Lay’s potato chips slogan that a person can’t eat just one chip without wanting to eat more.  The slogan “Betcha can’t eat just one” has been used to market the snack food since the 1960s.

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Richard J. Daley was elected for his fifth consecutive term in 1975 and held the office of Mayor of Chicago for over 20 years. The shamrock on the button reflects Daley’s Irish heritage as well as the majority ethnic group of his neighborhood of Bridgeport.  Daley’s eldest son would go on to be elected Mayor of Chicago as well from 1989 to 2011 forging another Daley dynasty.