Black text and a black illustration of a rotary telephone on a yellow background

Automatic Electric Company was a telephone equipment supplier founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1901 by Almon B. Strowger.  Strowger desired to manufacture automatic telephones that would not require switchboard operators.  This led him to found the Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange Company which held the first patent for such a device, which later became the Automatic Electric Company.  The Illinois Tunnel Company was one of the largest users of the Automatic Electric telephone.  The AE 40 Monophone was manufactured from 1939-1950 and is the most distinctive phone notable for this era, and came in a variety of colors ranging from purple to bright red.  The company was merged into GTE Network in 1983. 

White text on red background on upper third, blue text on white background on middle third, white text on blue background on bottom third. 

This button is one of eight in a collectible series, possibly used in vending machines. "Bleacher Bums" refer to Chicago Cubs fans who sit in the bleacher section at Wrigley Field. The group was originally referred to as "bums" because, due to their ability to regularly attend day games, the assumption was that they did not have jobs. Many of these fans were, and are, students at the many colleges and universities in the Chicago area, including Loyola, Northwestern and DePaul. The group was started in 1967 by fans and a sports radio host Mike Murphy, who believes that the Bleacher Bums started the tradition of throwing opposing teams' home run balls back onto the field. A Broadway play written collaboratively by members of the Organic Theater Company in Chicago, and starring Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz, began running in 1977. A performance of the play was aired on PBS in 1979, and a made-for-television movie adaptation of the play came out in 2002. Bud Light bought the naming rights to the bleacher section in 2006, naming it the Bud Light Bleachers. 

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Navy blue lettering on red background with two crossed white illustrations of baseball bats in center. 

The Chicago Cubs are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Founded in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, the team was renamed in 1903. The Cubs were a founding member of the National League, and now play in the National League Central Division. The team is affectionally known as “The Cubbies” or “North Siders” and play their home games at Chicago’s historic Wrigley Field. They have a loyal fan base and—regardless of decades of mixed success—are one of the most popular franchises in baseball. In 2016, the Chicago Cubs went on to break a 108-year losing streak curse with their first World Series championship since 1908. The official Cubs team mascot is a young bear cub named Clark. The button seen is one of eight in a collectible series, possibly distributed in vending machines. 

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

White text on red background on upper half, white text on blue background on lower half. 

This button is one of eight in a collectible series, possibly used in vending machines. The expression "Hey, Hey Cubs!" was coined by Jack Brickhouse, announcer for the Chicago Cubs from 1948 to 1981. Other well-known expressions popularized by Jack Brickhouse as baseball announcer were "Wheeee!" "Whew Boy!" and "Oh Brother!"

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Red text on blue background with white pattern representing baseball stitching. 

This button is one of eight in a collectible series, possibly used in vending machines. The song " Go Cubs Go!" was recorded by Steve Goodman in 1984 season, and was heard frequently in Chicago and at Wrigley Field during that season. Goodman died in September of the same year, four days before the Cubs clinched the National League Eastern Division title, their first title in 39 years. The song has been played over the loudspeakers at Wrigley Field following each Cubs home victory since 2007. The chorus of the song, "Go Cubs go, go Cubs go/Hey Chicago what do you say?/The Cubs are gonna win today," is repeated three times and fans love to sing along. In 2015, after the Cubs clinched a playoff series at home in Wrigley Field for the first time in franchise history, a man made a clear recording of the stadium full of fans celebrating by singing "Go Cubs Go!" from his apartment a mile away. 

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Red and blue lettering on white background. 

The Chicago Cubs are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Founded in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, the team was renamed in 1903. The Cubs were a founding member of the National League, and now play in the National League Central Division. The team is affectionally known as “The Cubbies” or “North Siders” and play their home games at Chicago’s historic Wrigley Field. They have a loyal fan base and—regardless of decades of mixed success—are one of the most popular franchises in baseball. In 2016, the Chicago Cubs went on to break a 108-year losing streak curse with their first World Series championship since 1908. The official Cubs team mascot is a young bear cub named Clark. 

The button seen here is one of eight in a collectible series, possibly distributed in vending machines. 

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

White lettering on blue background on upper half, white lettering on red background on lower half. 

The Chicago Cubs are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Founded in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, the team was renamed in 1903. The Cubs were a founding member of the National League, and now play in the National League Central Division. The team is affectionally known as “The Cubbies” or “North Siders” and play their home games at Chicago’s historic Wrigley Field. They have a loyal fan base and—regardless of decades of mixed success—are one of the most popular franchises in baseball. In 2016, the Chicago Cubs went on to break a 108-year losing streak curse with their first World Series championship since 1908. The official Cubs team mascot is a young bear cub named Clark. 

The button seen here is one of eight in a collectible series, possibly distributed in vending machines. 

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

White text on red background with illustrated bear cub in center. 

The Chicago Cubs are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Founded in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, the team was renamed in 1903. The Cubs were a founding member of the National League, and now play in the National League Central Division. The team is affectionally known as “The Cubbies” or “North Siders” and play their home games at Chicago’s historic Wrigley Field. They have a loyal fan base and—regardless of decades of mixed success—are one of the most popular franchises in baseball. In 2016, the Chicago Cubs went on to break a 108-year losing streak curse with their first World Series championship since 1908. The official Cubs team mascot is a young bear cub named Clark. 

The button seen here is one of eight in a collectible series, possibly distributed in vending machines. 

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Red text on blue background with white pattern representing baseball stitching. 

This button is one of eight in a collectible series, possibly used in vending machines. "Bleacher Bums" refer to Chicago Cubs fans who sit in the bleacher section at Wrigley Field. The group was originally referred to as "bums" because, due to their ability to regularly attend day games, the assumption was that they did not have jobs. Many of these fans were, and are, students at the many colleges and universities in the Chicago area, including Loyola, Northwestern and DePaul. The group was started in 1967 by fans and a sports radio host Mike Murphy, who believes that the Bleacher Bums started the tradition of throwing opposing teams' home run balls back onto the field. A Broadway play written collaboratively by members of the Organic Theater Company in Chicago, and starring Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz, began running in 1977. A performance of the play was aired on PBS in 1979, and a made-for-television movie adaptation of the play came out in 2002. Bud Light bought the naming rights to the bleacher section in 2006, naming it the Bud Light Bleachers.

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Black text on a bright orange background

When Alabama Governor George Wallace spoke to hundreds of whites at Milwaukee's Serb Hall in 1976, he was greeted by chants of "Wallace Yes! Busing No!" which referred to Wallace's opposition of the 1971 Supreme Court decision that gave federal courts the discretion to include busing as a desegregation tool to achieve racial balance in schools. The decision made busing one of the most controversial topics in U.S. law and politics during the 1970s. Opponents of forced busing argued that forcing children many miles away from the students’ homes presented problems for them and their families, and resulted in lower involvement in after school activities and parental participation at the school. 

Large numbers of middle and upper-class residents began to move away from urban areas, settling in the suburbs, which became known as “white flight.” The growth of private and parochial schools rose during this period. In the 1980s desegregated busing began to decline and because of the increased diversity of schools today, many have been excluded from the Federal requirement.

Wallace served two consecutive and two non-consecutive terms as Governor of Alabama over three decades in the 60s, 70s and 80s and declared in his 1963 inaugural address that he stood for “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”