I've Got a Pair of Queens

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Text on Button I'VE GOT A PAIR OF QUEENS
Image Description

Illustration of a man and two women side by side on a yellow background with blue text around the outer edge.

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FACTORY No. 30, 2ND DISTRICT NEW YORK

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American cartoonist Rube Goldberg created the "I've got a pair of queens" image, featuring Augustus Mutt from cartoonist Budd Fisher's comic Mutt and Jeff. The image was used as an insert card for Sweet Caporal Little Cigars, Derby Little Cigars, Sweet Caporal Tobacco Wrapper, and Sovereign Little Cigars produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. 

Sources

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2018). I've got a pair of queens, from the "Mutt and Jeff" series (T88), issued by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/785194.

Catalog ID HU0168

Labor Day 1920

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Text on Button LABOR DAY 1920 Sept. 6th - Des Moines
Image Description

Blue text and an illustration of an American Flag on a white background

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The 1920 Labor Day celebration in Des Moines, Iowa, took place on September 6, 1920. This was celebrated with a parade of organized laborers led by police officers in the morning, which ended in Riverview Park where basket lunches were enjoyed. At 3 p.m., there was an athletic event to open the afternoon programs, followed by two speakers, and a band concert finale.

Catalog ID EV0469

Hood's Brigade Bryan Centennial

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Text on Button 1862*1962 HOOD'S BRIGADE BRYAN CENTENNIAL JUNE 23-30 MISS CENTENNIAL BELLE
Image Description

Blue text on an offwhite background with an illustration of a woman in a bonnet on a yellow background with a metal bell attached by string

Curl Text OHM INC.FOSTORIA, OHIO
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Hood’s Brigade was a Texas brigade in the U.S. Civil War led by Confederate general John Bell Hood. Hood became known as an aggressive leader during the Seven Days Battles in 1862, leading a charge that broke the Union line. Many men from Bryan, Texas, served in Hood’s Brigade. The Carnegie Center of Brazos Valley History, formerly the Carnegie Library, in Bryan served as the brigade’s last headquarters. Veterans of the brigade regularly met at the building in the years following the war.

Catalog ID EV0448

Hit the Trail

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Text on Button "HIT THE TRAIL" FOR PARK COUNTY MONTANA
Image Description

Illustration of blue mountains with green sky and white text over it

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THE WHITEHEAD & HOAG CO. 
BUTTONS BADGES NOVELTIES AND SIGNS 
NEWARK, N.J.

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Park County Montana is located in the south-central region of the state. The nearly 3,000 square-mile county was estimated to be home to just over 16,000 in 2017. The county is surrounded by four mountain ranges — the Absarokas, Bridger, Gallatin, and the Crazy Mountains. It is home to Custer Gallatin National Forest, Granite Peak (the highest point in Montana), and a small portion of Yellowstone National Park, among other natural features.

Catalog ID EV0446

American Revolution Bicentennial

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Text on Button AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL 1776-1976
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Red, white and blue striped star drawing on a white background with black text around the outer edge

Curl Text Officially Recognized Commemorative of the ARBA - Lic. No. 76-19-0543 Authorized under Public Law 93-179 -N.G. Slater Corp. NYC 10011 union bug
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In 1976, The U.S. government wanted to commemorate the Bicentennial of the American Revolution (1776) with a set of stamps highlighting the event. President Gerald Ford commissioned artist Bruce N. Blackburn to design the Bicentennial logo (seen on this button) as the first stamp. The series of 114 stamps lasted until 1983 when the last stamp featured a commemoration to the Treaty of Paris (1783) that established the United States as a sovereign nation. The image has since been used on a variety of memorabilia from stamps, buttons, collectible coins, to postcards. 

Catalog ID EV0478

Max Fleisher's Talkatoons Ko-Ko

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Text on Button MAX FLEISHER'S TALKATOONS KO-KO 25
Image Description

Image of Koko the Clown with black text​​

Curl Text WESTERM THEATER PREMIUM CO. 1956 S. VERMONT AVE. LOS ANGELES, CAL.
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Talkatoons was a series of 42 animated cartoons that were produced by Fleischer Studios between 1929 and 1932. The head of the studios was Max Fleisher, a Polish-American animator, film director, and producer. One of Fleisher's most popular creations includes Betty Boop and Koko the Clown. Partially inspired by his younger brother, Dave, who worked as a clown, Koko is a clown with loose fitting black costume and three large pom-poms in the front. Koko appeared in a number of cartoons for Fleisher Studios between the 1920s and 1930s. In many of his appearances, Koko appeared alongside his companion Bimbo as well as Betty Boop, who sometimes appeared as his love interest. In the following years, Koko occasionally appeared in cartoons and feature-length films.​​

Catalog ID EN0446

Huntington Civillian Defense

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Text on Button HUNTINGTON CIVILIAN DEFENSE VOLUNTEER CABELL COUNTY
Image Description

White and blue text on a red, white and blue background

Curl Text union bug BASTIAN BROS. CO., ROCHSETER NY
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The United States civilian defense was a non-military movement to protect and prepare Americans for a military attack on the U.S. The movement began in earnest during World War I when it focused on anti-sabotage activities when the U.S. mainland was never in serious danger of an attack. It was also a supporter of bond drives to raise funds for the war effort. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the threat to homeland U.S. was taken much more seriously. The Civil Defense organizations had 10 million volunteers trained in fire fighting, chemical weapons decontamination, and first aid. They also used civilian aircraft and pilots to help in search and rescue efforts and aircraft spotting. In 1952, the U.S. Air Force called to increase the number of civilian volunteers in West Virginia, local to this button, to spot aircraft as they worried their radar systems were not quick or reliable enough to spot foreign aircraft.

Sources

Air Force worried: Ground workers needed to bolster warning system. (1952, May 26). The Raleigh Register, 72(286), p. 1.

Catalog ID CL0466