Photograph of man and woman standing together with white text on a light blue background.

This event indicates the marriage of Ken Rudin’s wedding to Lorrie. Ken Rudin is a political analyst and respected expert on elections who runs the Political Junkie. He served as the political editor at the National Public Radio from 1991 to 1994, and as a political director at ABC News from 1983 to 1991. He has appeared on many national TV shows such as CNN’s “Inside Politics,” PBS’s “Washington Week in Review,” and CNBC’s “Equal Time.” He also wrote “Political Graffiti” for The Hill from 1997 to 1998. He has been collecting over 70,000 political campaign buttons since 1966.

Illustration of the Earth encircled by a brown ribbon with yellow text and partially behind a brown rectangle with a yellow decorative frame.  Blue and red text on a white background.

The 1976 Summer Olympic Games were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is to date the only time that Canada has hosted the Summer Olympic Games. Bay State Beverage Inc. was, a now defunct, beer distributer out of Massachusetts. Schlitz Beer was once the most popular beer in America. It was brewed by Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Strikes by workers, disastrous campaign adds, and changes to its brewing formula all caused a decline in sales. By the late 1970s the beer lost its number one ranking to competitor Anheuser-Busch.

Profile illustration of a person wearing a long-tailed hood with white text above and below.

Conesus Lake is a popular outdoor place located in upstate New York, about twenty-five miles from Rochester. The lake is eight miles long and sixty-six feet deep. It is considered a minor part of the eleven finger area lakes situated westerly at the Town of Conesus. 

Illustration of an ostrich's head on a white background.  Blue text in lower left-hand corner.

The Cawston Ostrich Farm is America's first ostrich farm and was located in South Pasadena, California. It opened in 1886 by Edwin Cawston after Cawston moved fifty ostriches from South Africa to Galveston, Texas. Once in Galveston, the ostriches were placed on a train and sent to California. Only eighteen ostriches survived the journey, but eventually the number of ostriches raised to over 100 while on the farm. The Farm became a tourist attraction for people visiting Los Angeles. Visitors had the opportunity to ride on the backs of ostriches, take ostrich drawn carriage rides, and buy hats, capes, and boas made out of ostrich feathers. The Farm closed in 1935.

Illustration of matador wearing red waving a red cape as a bull charges next to him on a yellow background.  Black text in illustrated white scroll around one side of button, and black text on background. 

The practice of bullfighting in Mexico goes back at least 500 years ago. The bullfighting season in Tijuana Mexico is from May to October with a bull fight occurring every other Sunday. Bullfighting pits a human versus a bull in an enclosed ring. The object is for the matador to subdue the bull. There are many styles, rules and cultural expectations associated with bullfighting around the world. In Mexico, the bull is maimed throughout the encounter then ceremoniously killed with a sword. While the tradition of bullfighting continues in Tijuana, the Mexican states of Sonora, Guerrero, and Coahuila have banned the practice.

Illustration of birthday cake on a silver tray with eight lit candles on a blue background with white text.

Celebrating a birthday with cake and lit candles is a practice that has evolved over hundreds of years drawing from many cultures. In Ancient Greece, there was a tradition of making moon-shaped cakes to bring to the temple of Artemis, goddess of the moon. The cakes had lit candles decorating them, meant to make them shine like the moon. In Roman times, cakes were made to celebrate some citizens’ 50th birthdays, although this was reserved for men of high social status. By the 18th century, Germans had a tradition of celebrating birthdays for children called “Kinderfeste,” in which a cake would be topped with candles in the morning and kept lit all day until the cake was eaten after dinner. It was not until the industrial revolution, however, that birthday cakes became a trend in the United States when ingredients, baking tools, and even pre-made cakes cost less and were more accessible to the population.

Illustration of two fairies playing among large green leaves on a yellow background.  Brown text and a brown border.

Celebrations of when the British proclaimed sovereignty over the island of Australia date back to the early 1800s. The term “Australia Day” (a.k. a. Anniversary Day and Founder’s Day) was not accepted by all Australian states and territories until 1935. The date on which festivities would take place was not made consistent until 1935 when 26 January was officially designated as the day the nation would celebrate. Adelaide, South Australia was one of the last capital cities to adopt Australia Day. During World War I, the anniversary was celebrated in July so that funds could be raised for the war. The Adelaide newspaper, The Advertiser, recorded the successful celebration of Australia Day in July 1918. The event was partly a fundraising event for the South Australian Soldiers’ Insurance Fund to provide funds to widows and dependent mothers of those who were lost in the Great War. Activities included an exhibition carnival, band concerts, sports and a buffet. Buttons were one of the many souvenirs available for purchase. Most of these buttons were sold by the “Button Sellers” who were primarily girls and women who stood at stalls all throughout the day to sell their wares.

White text on a blue background

Designer Jenna Blazevich hand-lettered this button, as well as two others that read “Deal Us In” and “Fighting for Me Since ‘73” for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign for president of the United States. Clinton, a Democrat, ran against Republican Donald Trump, a businessman and producer and host of the reality television show The Apprentice. Clinton was the first woman candidate nominated for president by a major U.S. political party. While Clinton won the popular vote by about 2.8 million votes, Trump won the presidential election with 304 electoral votes to Clinton's 227. She served as the U.S. Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 in President Barack Obama's administration. She was elected as the first woman U.S. Senator from the state of New York in 2000 and served in the position from 2001 to 2009. Clinton was the First Lady of the U.S. from 1993 to 2001 while her husband, Bill Clinton, was president. 

Illustration of smiley face comprised of upside down umbrella and two clouds with large drops of water.  Black and blue text around edge of button.

The Rain Fair was a festival in Aberdeen, Washington in the 1970s. In 1971, the first ever Rain Fair Festival was held. 

Black text and a black and red illustration of a tree with a man in an apron and tall white hat in front of a barbeque 

Celebrating fatherhood has been around since families began. In the middle ages, it was formally established by Catholic Europeans as a day to honor fathers; known as St. Joseph’s Day, occurring yearly on March 19 and is still an active celebration there today. In the U.S., Father’s Day was initially proposed as early as 1908 as a civic celebration. It wasn’t proclaimed as a National holiday for another fifty-eight years until 1966, and six years later, in 1972, became firmly established. Today Father’s Day is celebrated annually on the third Sunday of June.