White text on a red background

Encouraging people to "buy gay", or purchase from LGBT business owners, is a way of promoting social change and prosperity in the LGBT community. The phrase "buy gay" appears to originate back to the 1980's in communities with large LGBT populations. This button very likely originates from one of those communities during that time period. 

Illustration of open book laying flat with a five-pointed star shooting from the pages on a background consisting of outer space, planets, stars and a rainbow.

"Book It" is a popular 30-year old reading program created by Pizza Hut that encourages kids and adults to read books for the promise of a free pizza. Anyone who participated in the program in the late 80's and early 90's received this pin. 

White background with black text. An illustration of an ox with an oversized body in brown and tan with white horns and a speech bubble.

Running Press is a book publisher that publishes about 80 titles each year under four different publishing companies, in addition to book kits and other publicity items. The company was founded 1972, and publishes broad range of genres and book related items. 

Photograph of commercial juice dispenser with a baby bonnet resting on top of it.  Black text on a white background.

Established in 1951, Golden Gem Growers, Inc. is a Florida citrus fruit corporation. The company processes citrus fruit into frozen concentrates, fresh fruit, and by-products which are shipped to points outside of the State of Florida.  The produce is grown by individual growers and Golden Gem (corporation) harvests and processes the citrus fruit of each shareholder-grower.  This beverage dispenser contains grapefruit juice and orange juice grown by Golden Gem Growers. The bonnet combined with the phrase "Our Baby" lets their customers know they treat their product with care. It also implies a pride in the product they grow.

Yellow top half of the button with an illustration of a doll and black text and a heart with text in it. Bottom half is pink with yellow and black text

The Patsy Dolls, created by the Effanbee Doll Company, first appeared on the market in 1927 and were designed to look like real little girls. The Patsy dolls were named after the daughter of famous Irish aviator, James Fitzmaurice. The other names featured on the button are variants of the Patsy Doll. Patsy Dolls are still created today, though shorter than the original version. The Patsy Doll Club was promoted by a character named “Aunt Patsy”. 

Black and yellow smiley face.

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Black and yellow smiley face.

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Black illustration of a smiling face on a yellow background

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Illustration of a face with its eyes half closed and tongue sticking out on a pink background

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Highlights children's magazine often gave out promotional items in the 1980s with personified smiley faces on them, such as buttons or stickers. This is likely one of those items.

In internet culture the unwell face is often represented by an emoji with a green face, puffed out cheeks as if holding onto vomit. It represents feeling sick or feeling disgust.

Black and pink smiley face.

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.