Black and white photograph of a man's head and shoulders, wearing a hat over black text on a white background

Fred Gilman started his career in Hollywood as a stunt double for the famed western actor, Hoot Gibson. He earned starring roles in a number of Universal's William Wyler-directed two-reel westerns, which were 11-minute silent films. By the 1930s, however, the new popularity of sound films led the studio to focus on other types of projects, halting Gilman's career rise. Gibson kept Gilman employed throughout the 1930s in small parts, but his career quietly faded as an extra and horse trainer. The actor died in 1988.

Blue text with a red stripe above and a blue stripe below on a white background

Wendell Lewis Willkie (1892-1944), was an American lawyer and the Republican nominee for President of the United States in 1940. Despite receiving the most popular votes for a Republican up to that point, Willkie lost the election to Franklin D. Roosevelt.  A long-time, active Democrat, Willkie joined the Republican party in response to government restrictions on business. Willkie was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador to the Middle East, China, and the Soviet Union under President Roosevelt.

Gold and blue text and an illustration of a key on a white background

Wendell Willkie was the Republican presidential candidate who ran against Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. His campaign produced millions of buttons in response to items in the news about Roosevelt in an attempt to gain name recognition. 

Willkie was a lawyer from New York, who campaigned on issues such as international relations, which addressed the United States role in World War II.  He lost the election to Roosevelt, who had won 85% of the electoral college.  As a result, Roosevelt would go on to become the first president to be in office three terms, before the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1951, would limit a president's time in office to two terms.

Red and blue circular framing with white text and center photo of Colonel John Glenn.

Colonel John Glenn was an American astronaut who holds the distinction of being part of the first group of astronauts to have been selected by NASA. Announced by NASA on April 9, 1959, Glenn was part of the Mercury Seven, otherwise known as the Original Seven. Those selected were to take part in Project Mercury, an early example of the Space Race and whose goal was to put a man into orbit and return him safely to Earth before the Soviet Union could. Though NASA would fail in taking that distinction due to Soviet astronaut, Yuru Gagarin becoming the first person to journey into outer space and complete orbit, Glenn did became the first American to complete the task.

Conducted on February 20, 1962, the mission, known as Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6), was the third human spaceflight mission by the U.S.. Glenn was the pilot for the mission and successfully performed three orbits around the Earth. Glenn conducted the mission in the spacecraft, Friendship 7 . As a result of the mission, Glenn also became the the fifth person and third American in space. Upon resigning from NASA in 1964, Glenn became a Senator from Ohio and was also inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1990.

Read more about the History of NASA buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Black background with an illustration of an astronaut saluting an American flag on the moon

On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first individuals in history to ever land of the moon. Serving as two of the three member crew of the Apollo 11 spaceflight alongside Michael Collins, who only stayed in orbit around the moon, both Aldrin and Armstrong landed the lunar module, Eagle, on the moons surface. Armstrong holds the distinction of being the first on the moon, uttering the now famous phrase upon walking outside of the capsule  "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Twenty minutes later, Aldrin joined him on the surface and both proceeded to spend around two hours walking on the surface. Broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience, the event became a monumental part of the twentieth century. The mission was a complete success and completed President John F. Kennedy's ambition and goal to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. 

Blue and red text with a white background

On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Bull Aldrin, and Michael Collins made history as the crew of the legendary Apollo 11 spaceflight. The missions purpose was to successfully land a person on the moon before the Soviets could and bring them home to Earth without issue. While Michael Collins piloted the command module, Columbia, alone in the moon's orbit, both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have the distinction of being the first and second human beings respectively to ever walk the moon's surface. Broadcast on live television, the Apollo 11 mission remains one of the most defining moments of the twentieth century. Effectively ending the Space Race, Apollo 11 stands as a moment of inspiration. While the concept of space travel had up to that point been considered nothing more than science fiction, Apollo 11 showed that humanities future was not limited to just Earth.​

White text on red panels that surround an illustration of an astronaut's legs walking on the moon 

On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Bull Aldrin, and Michael Collins made history as the crew of the legendary Apollo 11 spaceflight. The missions purpose was to successfully land a person on the moon before the Soviets could and bring them home to Earth without issue. While Michael Collins piloted the command module, Columbia, alone in the moon's orbit, both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have the distinction of being the first and second human beings respectively to ever walk the moon's surface. Broadcast on live television, the Apollo 11 mission remains one of the most defining moments of the twentieth century. Effectively ending the Space Race, Apollo 11 stands as a moment of inspiration. While the concept of space travel had up to that point been considered nothing more than science fiction, Apollo 11 showed that humanities future was not limited to just Earth.

Red and black text on a white outer edge with a black and white photograph of Carter's head in profile

The Mocking of a President: A History of Campaign Humor From Clinton to Kennedy was written in 1994 by comedy writer Gerald Gardner. This book was in a series from Gardner chronicling jokes made by and about political candidates, which includes President Jimmy Carter. Gardner wrote the popular political satire series Who’s in Charge Here, which added humorous captions to pictures of politicians.

Gardner also wrote for popular TV shows from the 60's, such as The Monkees and Get Smart. Episodes he worked on for Get Smart were nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards. He often worked with Dee Caruso on projects including comics, television shows, and movies.

Red and black text on a white outer edge with a black and white photograph of Kennedy's head and shoulders

In 1988, comedy writer Gerald Gardner release the book, The Mocking of a President: A History of Campaign Humor From Ike to Ronnie. The book is the first in Gardner's series of works chronicling jokes made by, and about, political candidates, including President John F. Kennedy. 

Gardner began publishing political humor in 1966 with the release of the first book in his Who's In Charge Here? series. These works added humorous captions to pictures of politicians. Besides his political books, Gardner is best known for writing the successful 1960s television comedies, Get Smart and The Monkees, along with his writing partner, Dee Caruso.

Black and white photograph of a woman with long blonde hair with a white outer edge followed by a red outer edge with white text and two white stars at the bottom next to blue with white text

In 1976, Elizabeth Ray effectively ended the career of Ohio Congressman Wayne Hays when she revealed she had been his mistress while employed as a "secretary" for a salary of $14,000 dollars a year. Ray claimed that since arriving at the Hill, she had not been asked to conduct any Congressional work, famously being quoted as admitting, "I can't type, I can't file, I can't even answer the phone." After Hays resigned, Ray published a book about her experience titled, The Washington Fringe Benefit though she failed to achieve further success outside of a photo shoot for Playboy. The Hays incident was one of the most prolific Congressional scandals of the 1970s, and marked the time when sex scandals began to appear more commonly in the media, culminating in the Monica Lewinsky case in 1998.