Black text inside a white rectangle on a black background.

Jules Feiffer is a cartoonist and writer with his most famous work, a satirical comic strip, Feiffer (originally named Sick Sick Sick). Before he was an established cartoonist, he was an apprentice whose boss had told Feiffer his work was lousy, but hired him anyway. For forty years (1956-1997), he displayed his work for The Village Voice as the staff cartoonist. Feiffer took a public stance in opposition to Vietnam War with his Enough campaign.

In the late 1960s, the war in Vietnam (started in 1955) started to lose popular consensus that Americans should be fighting there. The war had gone on longer than the American people were told, and the number of deaths kept climbing. Feeling like their opinions were not being heard, multiple peace movements popped up around the country with the intent to be non-violent, but would sometimes end with altercations and arrests by police. Despite the growing disapproval for the war it would not officially end until 1975.

Illustration of a pink silhouette of a person's head with a black and white eyeball looking at the viewer.  White text on silhouette and black background.

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Illustration of five fists raised in defiance with black text circling around the entire button on a white background.

The YWLL, also known as the Young Communist League USA, was a communist organization in the United States that was established in 1920. The youth branch was founded in 1970. The purpose of the league was to form its members into communists, which was done so through studying Marxism and Leninism as well as participating in the struggles the American working class experienced. While the league has disbanded nationally, there are still local state chapters operating throughout the country.

Black text on a burnt-orange background.

This button was created for the March on Washington on November 6, 1968. The March focused on bringing an end to the Vietnam War. The Youth Against War and Fascism organization was formed in April of 1962. It was initially known as the Anti-Fascist Youth Committee before changing it name. YAWF was affiliated with the Workers World Party and fought with and for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Weather Underground, Puerto Rican Independence Movement, Black Panthers, and gay rights.

Illustration of a green arrow with a gust of air coming out of its tail end.  Black text below illustration on a white background with irregular green polkadots.

Phyllis Yampolsky, an artist and grant-funded Festival Design Consultant at the New York City (NYC) Parks Department, designed and organized Events in Open Air (EIOA). EIOA was a festival with a preview plus five events at various NYC parks between August-September 1966. It was part of NYC Parks Commissioner’s, Thomas Hoving, happenings' initiative to decrease negative perceptions of unsafe NYC parks, increase access to arts, and inspire a sense of community and inclusiveness through play and games. Contemporary artist, Allan Kaprow, coined the term “happening” in the 1950s to describe performances breaking boundaries, relationships, and traditional notions between the gallery space, visitor, and artist.

Yampolsky called happenings, “experimental public games” (NYC Parks, 1966b, “Festival Aug. 26”). EIOA consisted of two types of group games open to everyone: communal art using art and collaging supplies and field games featuring obstacles along with other smaller events. These experimental public games encouraged people to use all senses throughout their experience. The NYC Parks Department and George Delacorte sponsored EIOA, while other organizations (e.g. Azuma, Inc., Magic Markers, Inc., and more) provided supplies to run the festival.

Concentric circles of blue, yellow and red with white circle in center with black text.

Ramparts Magazine ran from 1962 to 1975. It was a literary and political magazine that mainly represented the "New Left" political movement in the United States. It was created by Edward M. Keating who intended the magazine to be an outlet for Catholics in America as well as a way for creative writers to display their talent. Ramparts featured poetry, fiction, essays, and art that reflected Christian traditions and beliefs.

Black and white illustration of a man in a top hat with glasses and a cigar with black text on a white background

Created by Arthur R. "Pop Mormand, Keeping up with the Joneses was an American comic strip that debuted on March 31, 1913. The strip follows the McGinis family: parents Aloysius and Clarice, their daughter Julie, and the family's maid, Bella Donna. The strip features a comedic look at the McGinis families attempts to match their lifestyle to that of their neighbors, the Joneses, who are never actually seen in the comic. The strip was popular enough that a series of silent animated shorts were released between 1920 and 1921. Upon finishing its run in 1938, the series gave rise to the popular phrase "keeping up with the Joneses", which when referred to means the comparing of oneself to their neighbors as an indicator for their social class and material wealth. The phrase remains popular in the 21st century.

Black text and an illustration of Oswald the rabbit on a white background.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is a cartoon character created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney.  He was devised as a character for animated shorts distributed by Universal Studios in the 1920s and 30s. 

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit debuted in 1927 in a cartoon called "Trolley Troubles", which was a major success.  The profits from the Oswald series of cartoons allowed the fledgling Walt Disney Studios to expand, growing to a team of nearly 20.  When Walt Disney met with Universal Studios in 1928 to renegotiate their contract, he refused a 20% cut in pay, ending their partnership, and allowing Universal to take the rights to Oswald.  Walt and Ub subsequently created Mickey Mouse later that year, eclipsing the popularity of Oswald, and jump-starting the Golden Age of Animation.  As the property of Universal, Oswald was featured in an additional 142 animated shorts throughout the 1930s.  Oswald continued in comic books from the 1940s through the 1960s. 

In 2006, Disney CEO, Bob Iger, made a deal with NBC Universal.  Disney traded ABC and ESPN sportscaster Al Michaels to NBC Sports in exchange for the rights to several creative properties, including Oswald.  Since re-acquiring the rights to the character, Disney has released Oswald merchandise, featured him in video games and included him in Disney theme park attractions.

Black and white illustration of Felix the cat with black text along the top edge on a white background

The movie theater called the Plaza Theatre featured Felix the Cat in their promotional material, a comedic animal cartoon character from the silent film era. Felix is known as the first animated character popular enough to draw in audiences to the movies. He was even sung about by jazz bands in the 1930s. Unfortunately, with the rise of talking cartoons, like those released by Walt Disney in the 1930s, Felix's transition to talkies was not successful. However, with the rise of television programs in the 1950s, Felix found a new outlet. Since then, Felix has been featured in other television programs as well as two movies. In 2002, TV Guide ranked Felix at number 28 out of 50 on their list of "The Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time."

Illustration of a man at the left pulling back a curtain and his cartoon balloon reads "Enter Mike And Ike." The two walk arm and arm onto a stage by a sign with pointing element to the right and inscription "To Movie Fame," black text on a white background

The illustrator of this design, Rube Goldberg, drew several comic series, including Mike and Ike (They Look Alike), Boob McNutt, and The Weekly Meeting of the Tuesday Women's Club. In 1927 he signed a contract with a movie company to introduce his characters Mike and Ike to the big screen in a series of two-reel comedies.

Rube Goldberg is synonymous with complicated inventions that perform simple tasks. He was an engineer and inventor as well as an illustrator. In his series featuring Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, Goldberg drew schematics of the comical gadgets by which he came to be known.

Goldberg was a founding member and first president of the National Cartoonists Society, whose Reuben Award for cartoonist of the year is named after him. He received a Pulitzer Prize for his political cartooning in 1948, and in 1995 was honored with a commemorative stamp as part of the "Comic Strip Classics" series from the U.S. Postal Service.