Colored photographs of two men's head and shoulders with red text above and black text on a yellow banner along the bottom edge

During the presidential election of 1952, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as "Ike," ran against Democrat Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson suffered a crushing defeat by Eisenhower, who went on to become the 34th President of the United States after having served as a five star general for the United States Army during World War II. California Senator Richard Nixon served as his Vice President.

During his two terms in office from 1953-1961, Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, brought down the communist paranoia spread by Joseph McCarthy, created the Interstate Highway System, and brought America into the great Space Race against the Soviets. His presidency is often times characterized as a time of economic prosperity for the United States.

Black and white photograph of three astronauts in spacesuits without helmets on white background between a blue and white image of Earth on the left, and a blue and white image of the moon on the right.  White text on a red top edge and blue bottom edge, with the name of the mission in blue above the astronauts, and their names and the date in red below.

On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 was launched from Kennedy Space Center.  During the course of the ship’s flight, the crew transmitted three televised broadcasts showing the ship’s interior and the surface of the moon.  Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin boarded the lunar module (Eagle) and disengaged from the spacecraft (Columbia) on July 20th.  Michael Collins remained on the Columbia.  The Eagle landed on the Sea of Tranquility at 4:18 p.m. EDT.  After Aldrin and Armstrong prepared the module and systems,  Armstrong left the Eagle at 10:56 p.m., uttering the phrase, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”  Aldrin and Armstrong  collected samples from the moon and walked approximately 3.300 feet during their 2.5 hours of exploration.  After spending 21.5 hours on the moon, the Eagle rejoined the Columbia, and the craft and crew began the journey home.

Blue and red text on a white background with blue stars and an illustration of a flag

The 1976 Republican National Convention was held in Kansas City, Missouri. On Monday morning at the start of the convention, a 55-foot tall inflatable elephant meant to welcome the delegates sprung loose and made its way into downtown Kansas City where it was ripped apart by nearby nylon wiring.

The main opponents of the convention were Ronald Reagan and incumbent President Gerald Ford. The Iowa delegation consisted of 36 participants, and cast their vote for Ford. After much debate and wooing of delegates by both parties, the final vote was 1,187 for Ford, 1,070 for Reagan, one vote from the New York delegation for Commerce Secretary Elliot L. Richardson and one abstention.

White and green text on a black background with an illustration of yellow corn

The 1964 Republican National Convention was held from July 13-16 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. The main nominees were Barry Goldwater, William Scranton and Nelson Rockefeller. The Iowa delegation consisted of 24 members and hosted a barbecue in the parking lot of the Cow Palace featuring “Top of Iowa” steaks. Around 200 steaks were donated by the Iowa Beef Producers Association and flown in for the event. Some of the nominees made an appearance at the barbecue and also in attendance was a prized Iowa steer named “Sir Percy.”  After a much contested convention, Goldwater sealed the nomination with 883 votes to Scranton’s 214 and Rockefeller’s 114.

Wonder Woman symbol with a blue circle behind it and a red blue and yellow ring with white stars

Wonder Woman was created by American psychologist and writer, William Moulton Marston, and became a part of the DC comic series. In the series, she is a founding member of the Justice League, a demigoddess, United Nations Executive Ambassador and Warrior Princess of the Amazon people. Her warrior name is Princess Diana of Themyscira, but her secret identity is Diana Prince. The character first appeared in All Star Comics #8 in December, 1941.

Grey and red illustration of Dumbo the elephant on a white background with stars on the sides and red text above

Dumbo is a 1941 animated film created by Walt Disney Productions. The film was the fourth animated feature film by Disney and was based on a story written by Helen Aberson. The story centers around Jumbo Jr., a baby elephant given the nickname “Dumbo” because of his large ears. The character of Dumbo has appeared in books, video games, and is the subject of Disneyland and Disney World rides and attractions.This button and other similar promotional Dumbo merchandise was distributed by Diamond D-X service stations, likely as a free gift with each gasoline purchase. 

Black-and-white illustration of a man riding a horse and black text on yellow background. 

The Lone Ranger is a fictional character in American culture. He is known as a masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with the help of his Native American friend, Tonto. The Lone Ranger first appeared in a 1933 radio show written by Fran Striker. The inspiration for the character is unclear, but possibilities include Zorro, Robin Hood, Texas Ranger captain John R. Hughes, and Bass Reeves, the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River. The popular radio series gave rise to a series of books, comic books, several movies, and a television show that aired from 1949 to 1957. The Lone Ranger was known to conduct himself by a strict moral code, and some of the actors who played him took their position as a role model for children seriously, and tried to live by the same creed. 

Several tropes of popular culture originated from The Lone Ranger. The title character would shout "Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!" to his white stallion, and Tonto would encourage his own horse with an occasional, "Get 'em up, Scout!" Tonto usually referred to the Lone Ranger as "Kemo sabe," which was described as meaning "faithful friend" or "trusty scout". It's possible that the word is a derivative of "gimoozaabi," an Anishnaabe word (part of the Algonquian language family) meaning "he looks out in secret". The rights to The Lone Ranger and associated characters were acquired by Universal Pictures in 2016 for $3.8 billion. 

Color illustration of a clown with green text on the top and bottom edge on a white background

The Shriners International fraternal organization was established in 1870 and founded on Masonic principles. The circus was founded in 1906 and the first performance was held at the Moslem Shrine Center in Detroit, Michigan. A marker now denotes this location as a part of circus history. The Shrine Circus travels across the United States and Canada, and performances are held as fundraisers for the organization.

Green and red text on a white background.

Mr. Bingle is a Christmas “snow doll” character that was created when Emilie Alline – a window display designer for the New Orleans Department store Maison Blanche – sought holiday inspiration from Chicago storefront windows in 1947. Resembling a snowman with an ice cream hat and holly leaf wings, Mr. Bingle (whose initials match those of the store he was born in) has since become a Christmas icon in New Orleans. His popularity grew throughout the 1950s as part of the store's annual holiday puppet shows and he was granted his own jingle when being portrayed in store commercials throughout the 1960s. In the late 1980s, Maison Blanche commissioned a large fiberglass statue of Mr. Bingle which would look over Canal Street every Christmas, until the store was sold to the Dillard's chain in 1997. The statue can still be seen every year as part of City Park's Christmas celebration in its home of New Orleans.

Green Gumby character illustration holding a white guitar on white background. 

Gumby is a green clay character created by Art Clokey in the 1950s. Clokey decided to make Gumby green because he saw it as a racially neutral color and a symbol for life. The subject of two television series, a feature-length film and other media, along with trusty sidekick Pokey (a talking orange pony), Gumby is a well-known example of stop motion clay animation and a cultural icon. Gumby plays the guitar in a band with his pals called "The Clayboys". 

In a 1993 issue celebrating 40 years of television, TV Guide named Gumby as the best cartoon series of the 1950s. The Library of Congress used Gumby as a spokescharacter beginning in 1994, due to a regular sequence in the TV show where Gumby would walk into a book and experience the world within the book as a real place. Later, from 1997 to 2000, Gumby appeared in a traveling exhibit called Adventures into Books: Gumby's World, part of the Center for the Book's national reading campaign.