Color photography of Gerry Cheevers on a light blue background with black text

This button most likely dates from the 1970s (1970 and 1972 seasons) when the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup. Gerald Michael “Cheesey” Cheevers was a goaltender in both the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association between 1961-1980. He holds an NHL record for being undefeated in 32 consecutive games during the 1972 season. Cheevers’ goalie mask was the first in the sport to be custom decorated. He had stitch-marks drawn on his mask for every time he got hit in the face with a puck. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985 and into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in 2010.

Black text on a white background

The Chicago White Sox are a major league baseball team from the south side of Chicago. They are also called the "South Siders," a reference to their location in Chicago in relation to the city's other major league team, the Cubs, who are based in Wrigleyville on the north side. They won the World Series in 2005, and 88 years before that, twice, in 1906 and 1917. The team originally formed in Iowa in 1894 as a minor league team called the Cornhuskers. Charles Comiskey purchased the team and moved them to Chicago in 1900 as the White Stockings. Four years later, they took their new and current name, the White Sox.

The team played in Comiskey Park from 1910 to 1990 until a new stadium was built in 1991. The new field was originally also called Comiskey Park, but it was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003 and then Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016.

Blue text on a yellow background.   

Booster item made for the Cal (University of California, Berkeley) vs. Stanford University’s annual football game.  This rivalry dates to March 19, 1892 and continues every November except for a hiatus during World Wars I and II, and the fall of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Blue text on a red white and blue background

Indiana is a U.S. state in the Midwest, and the 17th-most populous out of the 50. It was the 19th state to be admitted into the Union in 1816. Its name means “Land of the Indians,” due to the many indigenous tribes that inhabited the area. Indiana remained largely agricultural until the discovery of natural gas in the 1880s, and this abundant cheap fuel source attracted heavy industry, and with it a population and economic boom. 

Indiana has a rich sports history and culture. It hosts the Indy 500 every year over Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track over one hundred years old. This race brings in more than 250,000 people every year, making it the largest single-day sports event in the world. Indiana also has a dominant basketball heritage, being the birthplace of high school basketball, and having produced among the most NBA players per capita. 

Red text on a white background

“Go big red” is the last line of the University of Nebraska Cornhusker’s fight song, “There is No Place Like Nebraska.” This song is sung after kick-off of football games and ends with four chants of the line. The song is also known as “No Place Like It” and was written in 1920 by ROTC officers at training who were homesick for Nebraska.

It is also the fight song of Lamar University, written by Dr. Ted Skinner in 1962 with accompanying music written by Dr. Charles A. Wiley, the dean of fine arts and the director of bands, respectively. The song ends with the line, “Let’s go big red!”

Color photograph of Evel Knievel on a motorcycle in front of a blue sky with clouds in the background and black text

Evel Knievel (1938-2007) was an American daredevil who was world famous in the 1970s for his motorcycle jumps and stunts. His longest jump was in 1975, over 14 buses at Kings Island in Ohio. He was also famous for his red, white and blue leather motorcycle gear and matching cape. During his career he survived 433 broken bones. His last jump was in 1981.

Illustration of a silver and blue football helmet on a white circle with an outer blue edge with white text.

The Dallas Cowboys football team was part of a National Football League franchise expansion in 1960. The logo of the team, since 1964, is a solid blue star with a white line and blue border. They have been a member of the National Football Conference-East division since 1970. Some of the fiercest rivalries exist between the Cowboys and the other East division teams: the Washington Redskins, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants. Home field for the Dallas Cowboys is AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Inside the stadium hangs a 160 foot by 72 foot high-definition television screen, the largest television screen in the world.

Purple text on a white backgroun

The purple colors and phrase indicate that this artifact is a booster item for the University of Washington Huskies football team when playing against the Oregon State University Beavers. These teams have been playing each other since 1897 and are both part of the Pac 12 Conference.  Rally buttons are often created for specific sporting event rivalries, often seen in high school and college sporting events.

Red blue and green text on a white background

The American Broadcasting Company created its ABC Sports division in 1961 with Roone Arledge as the producer. Originally the division televised the NCAA college football games and then track and field events sponsored by the Amatuer Athletic Union. ABC Sports evolved to where it then broadcast 10 Olympic games, created Monday Night Football (which it hosted from 1970-2006), and sponsored the weekly Wide World of Sports program. Legendary sports broadcasters Jim McKay and Howard Cosell helped create a more inclusive and entertaining style of presenting televised sports to the fans. ABC Sports began to merge with ESPN in the mid 1980s. Although the ABC Sports division still exists, since 2006 almost all of the sports broadcasting contracts have been managed by ESPN.

Color photograph of E.T. being kissed by a child. Pink text on bottom portion of button.

Promotional item for the popular 1982 science fiction film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The film was directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and tells the story of a young boy who befriends an alien stranded on earth and helps him return home. E.T. was the highest-grossing film of 1982, and remains among the highest-grossing films of all time.

E.T. and Me is an adaptation of the motion picture screenplay for the movie E.T. It is a retelling of the story from the point of view of Elliott, the boy who finds E.T.