Red and blue text on a white background; the number "1" is illustrated to look like the button on a touch-tone phone

By the year 1912, phone calls could be made as far apart as New York and Colorado and by 1915 the technology for calls that stretched fully across the country had been invented. By no means easily accessible or widespread, people had to go to specialty phone boxes and human operators that would route calls in order to conduct long distance calls. It wasn’t until 1951 that telephone companies had advanced to the point that direct dialing long distance calls became an option on the phones people had in their businesses and homes. The first long distance direct dial call was between the mayor of Englewood, New Jersey and the mayor of Alameda, California on November 10, 1951.

White text on a red background

The term "stoned" usually refers to being under the influence of drugs, especially cannabis. Stoner memorabilia probably started from the broader counterculture or cannabis movement, often using lapel pins to show a specific identity or stance related to cannabis use or legalization. This trend became particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s when cannabis culture gained mainstream attention through music, art, and activism. 

Blue and red text on a white background

Amid political frustration, it can be challenging to decide who to vote for. A common sentiment amongst undecided voters, the phrase seen here is also a popular slogan within third party candidates in the United States and their supporters. Third party candidates are diverse in their viewpoints, but share a similar "rebelling" stance against the two-party system—and those who vote on strict Democratic or Republican party lines.

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White background with an illustration of the heads of the four members of the Monkees surrounding a black Monkees text logo with black text above and below 

The Monkees was the name of a band created for a TV show by the same name in 1966. The band was comprised of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. The show ran on NBC from 1966-1968, but the pop rock band gained real popularity, with hit songs such as “I’m a Believer.” The television program won two Emmys in its first year and the group had four albums hit the Billboard chart in one year. In the 1980s, the group toured and made special appearances around the country; in 1996, they released a reunion album. In the years after the death of Jones and Took, Nesmith and Dolenz went on tour as the Monkees once more in 2021.  

White background with an illustration of the heads of the four members of the Monkees in a red car with a red text logo above

The Monkees was a band created for a TV show by the same name in 1966. The band members included Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. The Monkees show ran on NBC from 1966-1968, but the pop rock band gained real world popularity, with hit songs such as “I’m a Believer.” In the 1980s the group would go on tours and special appearances, and they put out a 1996 reunion album. The television program won two Emmys in its first year and the group had four albums hit the Billboard chart in one year. In the years after the death of Jones and Took, Nesmith and Dolenz went on tour as The Monkees once more in 2021. 

Illustration of a rooster with a red comb on a blue background surrounded by red text on a white background 

Composed of “choice grains and seeds,” Red Comb Poultry Feed was advertised in 1910 as being, “a carefully balanced ration for Chicks from the ‘Cradle to the Grav-y’.” The Edwards and Loomis Company, manufacturers of Red Comb Poultry Feed and Red Horns Dairy Feeds, kept an office in Chicago. 

This button was found in the walls of a house in Chicago built in 1905. Was the button received as a promotional item, dropped, and lost in the house in the early 1900s? How did it get there? The mystery may never be solved…

Blue-tinted photograph of Rodriguez in the center surrounded by red text on a white background

William E. Rodriguez was a lawyer and politician from Illinois. Born in Naperville, Illinois in 1879, Rodriguez became active in Chicago politics following his graduation from high school, and joining the Socialist Party of America, in the early 1910s. Rodriguez became the first Hispanic alderman in Chicago after his 1914 election for Chicago city council and was reelected in 1916. He remained active in Chicago politics until his death in 1970. 

Red cursive text on a white background

Born in 1941, Ernest Evans, better known by his stage name Chubby Checker is a singer, songwriter, and actor. He was given the nickname Chubby Checker by Barbara Clark—the wife of television and radio personality Dick Clark—and played homage to another famous singer, Fats Domino. Checker is credited with inventing the dance craze The Twist after his version of the 1959 Hank Ballard song was released in the 1960’s. The song popularized a new style of couples dancing that continues to be influential to this day. The Twist became a chart-toping hit and the was followed up the next summer with a successful sequel Let's Twist Again; most of Checker’s early work featured some play on his first hit. Checker is credited with seven top ten hits on The Billboard Top 100 including Pony Time and Limbo Rock. As of 2024, Chubby Checker still actively tours and performs around the United States. 

Black text on a light yellow background

Resentment transpired towards United States involvement in the Vietnam War when the U.S. conducted its first draft lottery since World War II. The draft became a driving force for protests across the country as it compared the drafting age to legal drinking and voting ages. Men were drafted to war as young as eighteen, meanwhile, the legal voting and drinking age was 21. Protestors criticized the fact that 18 to 21-year-old men were old enough to fight and die for their country yet not old enough to vote or drink in it.  

The slogan “old enough to fight, old enough to vote” became popular during the Vietnam War era and was used similarly in the argument to lower the legal drinking age. In 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18. Around the same time, 29 states lowered their legal drinking age to anywhere between 18 and 20. However, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984 and forced states to raise the legal drinking age to 21, or they would lose integral federal highway funding. The argument of being able to fight and die in war but not being able to drink continues to persist well into the 21 century.