Black line drawing of geisha's head and shoulders encircled by black text on a white background.

Profile illustration of a horse's head on a white background encircled above and below by black text.

Twenty Grand was an American racing horse in the 1930s and 1940s. He was owned and bred by Helen Hay Whitney's Greentree Stable and won 14 out of 25 races in his lifetime, including the Kentucky Derby. He is notable for being part of the "big four," which were the top four racing horses at the time. Twenty Grand was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and is also ranked at number 52 in the top 100 US thoroughbred champions of the 20th century in Blood-Horse.

Illustration of circle with curved green and orange stripes on a green and white striped background.  Black text on one of the white stripes.

The Balloon Farm was a psychedelic garage-rock band from New Jersey formed during the late 1960s. Their only hit single, “A Question of Temperature,” peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 37 in 1968; however, the band broke up later that year. Since then, they have appeared on several psychedelic garage-rock compilations and box sets. Their song has been covered by numerous bands, including Brownsville Station and The Lords of the New Church. The geometric design featured on the button is called Op Art or Optical Art. Popularized during the 1960s, contrasting colors and warping or swelling patterns give the optical illusion of movement.

Black text on blue background with an illustration of a white clown with red lips and black face paint in the center of the button. The clown is wearing a yellow and red outfit and hat.

The circus was once the most popular form of entertainment in the world.  While the idea of being entertained by horses and other animals dates back to Roman times, the “modern” circus is attributed to Philip Astley. Astley was the first to set up an amphitheatre where both horse riding tricks and acrobats could be conducted in the same space. The first circus building in the United States opened in Philadelphia in 1793. Joshuah Purdy Brown was the first circus owner to utilize a large canvas tent as a performance arena in 1825. P.T. Barnum changed the way the circus would entertain by introducing a multi-ring center stage with various visual peculiarities and menageries.

Illustration of Rockefeller Center building with blue sky and clouds in background.  Black text with white outline.

Rockefeller Center in New York was the vision of John D. Rockefeller. The plaza was constructed during the Great Depression and provided jobs to over 40,000 people. After its opening in 1933, the Center continued to establish itself has a mainstay in New York society through innovations such as the Christmas Tree and the skating rink. The most noticeable structure of the plaza is the skyscraper at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It was designed by architect Raymond Hood in the art deco style and is one of the few buildings of that era to not have a spire at the top. The building has had several high profile tenants including: RCA,  GE, NBC Studios, and Comcast. Official landmark status was granted to the building in 1985.

Illustration of skull wearing a pirate hat above two crossed bones inside a thin-lined white circle.  White text on a blue background.

Pirate Festivals have grown in popularity and number in recent years, usually offering activities, crafts, and other fun activities for children, but they haven’t always been modern day occurrences. One such festival, the Pirate Treasure Days at Coos Bay, Oregon, on August 6-8, 1948, included a water pageant, a bug derby, sailboat races, air circus, carnival and queen coronations.  

Blue text on illustration of white flag on a red and white striped background.  Blue text on white outer border and red border on edge of button.

National Restaurant Week was a promotional campaign that began in the late 1930s and lasted through 1949. Its goal was to showcase the variety of foods restaurants offered and their sanitary preparation. May 6-12 corresponds to National Restaurant Week for either 1940 or 1946.

Illustration of Charles Lindbergh's face with the airplane, Spirit of St. Louis, in the background on a tan circular background. Black text on a white outer border.

The year 1977 was the 50th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's historic 1927 flight from North America to mainland Europe. Lindbergh is famous for being the first person to pilot a nonstop transatlantic flight solo. In addition to his success as an aviator and explorer, he was also a military officer in the Army Air Corps Reserve. He was awarded the Model of honor for his flight. 

Illustration of snow drifts and snow flakes with a blue background with black text.

A storm that is now known as the Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011 impacted a large part of the United States, Canada and a small portion of Mexico from January 31- February 2 2011. The storm forced states of emergency in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Areas not normally accustomed to winter weather experienced both ice and snow accumulation. There were widespread power outages and thousands of flight cancellations. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport cancelled over 1,100 flights. The airport reported a record total of 21.2 inches of snow which makes it the third largest snowfall amount in Chicago history to date.

This button was manufactured by the Busy Beaver Button Co.

Blue text on white center circle, white text on blue outer border.

Over 25,000 buttons were created and distributed to commemorate the Good Roads Day celebration in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 21, 1916.  The festivities included a parade highlighting the areas best roads, a ceremony for the building progress of highways in the area, and special visits from good road experts from around the United States.