United Retail Workers Union

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Image Description

Blue text on a white background with an outer blue edge with white text on it

Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Additional Information

The United Retail Workers Union was largely concentrated in the states of Illinois and Indiana. It had roughly 22,000 members and dealt largely with those who worked in food chains. Because of its small size and concentrated area it often had difficulties being successful. It merged with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union in November of 1981.

Catalog ID CL0373

Tell it to Hanoi

Category
Additional Images
Text on Button TELL IT TO HANOI
Image Description

Black text on a white background

Curl Text union bug (unlegible text)
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Additional Information

Americans were divided in the 1960's and 1970's over the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, leading to widespread anti-war protests all over the country."Tell it to Hanoi" was a slogan used by supporters of American efforts in the Vietnam War, in response to protesters' complaints against Washington, the implication being that the outrage should instead be directed towards the communist government in the North Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi. Following the end of the war, Hanoi became the capital of a reunified Vietnam in 1976. 

Catalog ID CA0359

Starve a Rat Today

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button STARVE A RAT TODAY
Image Description

Illustration of a rat over black text on a yellow background

Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Additional Information

The slogan, "Don't Cook Dinner - Starve a Rat Today," emerged from the Women’s Strike for Equality March in New York City held on August 26, 1970, sponsored by National Organization for Women (NOW). The march was inspired by Betty Friedan’s original idea for August 26 as a national work stoppage, in which women would cease cooking and cleaning to set out on a strike in order to draw attention to the unequal distribution of domestic labor between men and women.

Sources

Cohen, S. (2015, August 25). Women's Equality Day: The history of when women went on strike. Timehttps://time.com/4008060/women-strike-equality-1970/

Catalog ID CA0490

Free the Watergate 5000

Category
Additional Images
Text on Button FREE THE WATERGATE 500 5000
Image Description

Blue text on a white background

Curl Text N.G. SLATER CORP. N.Y.C. 11 union bug
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
The Manufacturer
Additional Information

In 1972, five men were caught breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C.   The group was attempting to wire-tap phones and steal documents in order to assist the Republican party’s bid for re-election.  Organizers of this plan included G. Gordon Liddy, general counsel to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP).  The Watergate scandal and President Richard Nixon’s subsequent resignation was the result of an attempted cover-up these illegal activities. 

On January 5, 1974 President Nixon, claiming executive privilege, flatly refused to turn over more than 500 documents and tapes which were subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.  These included tape recordings made from conversations that took place in the oval office.  A host of pinback buttons and bumper stickers expressed the American public’s growing impatience with Nixon’s refusal to cooperate with the committee.  Buttons proclaiming “Free the Watergate 500” soon became “Free the Watergate 5000.”  Nixon was eventually forced by the Supreme Court to turn over the tapes, which proved so damaging that he was forced to resign on August 9, 1974, rather than face impeachment.

Catalog ID CA0459

Schreiber LaFollette

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button Schreiber 78 LaFollette
Image Description

White text on a green background with two white stars in the middle on either side of text

Curl Text AUTHORIZED AND PD FOR BY WIS. U.A.W. CAP. M. O'BRIEN CHR MILW WISC
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Year / Decade Made
Additional Information

Martin Schreiber's political career began with his service in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1963 to 1971. In 1970, Schreiber was chosen as the running mate of Patrick Lucey in his campaign for governor of Wisconsin. Lucey was elected and Schreiber became the lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. After Lucey resigned in 1977 to become the United States ambassador to Mexico, Schreiber succeeded him as governor for the remainder of their term. 

Schreiber ran with Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette against political outsider Lee Dreyfus in the 1978 gubernatorial election. Dreyfus successfully attacked the Lucey-Schreiber record on taxes and big government and was elected as the next governor of Wisconsin. Throughout his political career, Martin Schreiber focused on children's issues, the rights of workers and the elderly, and education. 

Catalog ID PO0500

Roosevelt Red White and Blue

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button ROOSEVELT
Image Description

Red white and blue striped background with blue text on the white stripe (faded to off white)

Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Additional Information

Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States and is the first U.S. president to win four presidential elections. He led the United States government through the majority of the Great Depression and World War II, as well as creating the New Deal Coalition. 

Catalog ID PO0504

Moe Bush

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button PRESIDENT U.S.A. MOE BUSH
Image Description

Black and white photograph of George W. Bush with hair like Moe from the Three Stooges with white text along the bottom edge

Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Year / Decade Made
Additional Information

During his presidency, George W. Bush received much criticism about his public image. His tendency to make country-themed metaphors, speak in a Texas accent, and take vacations on his ranch led to the public having an “American cowboy image” of the president. Tied to this stereotype, and because he was acting so differently to other politicians, some believed that he was not smart.

As a parody to this, an image surfaced of Bush with bowl style haircut, called “Moe Bush.” This is a reference to Moe Howard, of Three Stooges fame. The Three Stooges was a comedy act known for physical slapstick and followed the antics of three less than intelligent characters. By transposing Bush with Moe’s haircut, the image sought to perpetuate the belief of Bush’s lack of intelligence.

Catalog ID PO0503

Humphrey Freeman

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button HUMPHREY FREEMAN
Image Description

Blue text on a white background with a blue star in the center

Curl Text Union Bug
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Additional Information

Orville Freeman and Hubert Humphrey met at the University of Minnesota in the 1930's and sharing an interest in politics, became good friends. When Humphrey was elected as mayor of Minneapolis in 1945, he named Freeman as a special assistant for veteran affairs. Freeman later managed Humphrey's successful United States Senate campaign in 1948. In 1954, with Humphrey leading the Democratic-Farmer-Labor ticket in his successful campaign for re-election, Freeman was elected as governor of Minnesota. In 1960, Freeman was defeated in his bid for re-election, and Humphrey was unsuccessful in securing the Democratic Party's nomination for U.S. President. Following his defeat for re-election as governor in 1960, Freeman was appointed as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by the newly elected President John F. Kennedy, and was retained in that post by President Lyndon B. Johnson following Kennedy's assassination, serving until January 21, 1969. Humphrey was selected by Johnson as his running mate in 1964, and he served as U.S. Vice President from 1965 to 1969. 

Catalog ID PO0496

HHH Humphrey Red

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button HHH Humphrey
Image Description

Blue text with white stars on them over white text on a red background

Curl Text Union Bug
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Year / Decade Made
Additional Information

Hubert H. Humphrey was a Democratic Senator from Minnesota and Vice President of the United States of America (under President Lyndon Johnson). This button from his unsuccessful presidential campaign against Republican Richard M. Nixon in 1968 shows his classic campaign logo with the three interlocking H’s (his middle name was Horatio). Though he would lose this campaign, he would regain his former seat in the Senate in the 1970 elections.

Catalog ID PO0520