Pink text on a black shape with a silver background.

The Ritz Hotel is located in Paris, France, and is ranked one of the most prestigious hotels in the world. Founded in 1898, the luxury hotel has 159 rooms. Hotelier Cesar Ritz also opened a Ritz Hotel located in London in 1906, which is equally luxurious and prestigious. The Ritz Hotel is a symbol of luxury, its clients have included famous writers like Ernest Hemingway, royalty like Princess Diana, and fashion designers like Coco Channel. 

Black and white illustration of a a large rock in water with white text on it and blue text on the top and bottom edge on a white background.

The Prudential Company was started in Newark, NJ, by insurer John Fairfield Dryden. It was one of the first companies to provide insurance to the middle class. Initially, the only coverage sold was burial insurance. The company adopted the name of the Prudential Insurance Company of America in 1877. A picture of a rock with the reference that the company had the “strength of Gibraltar” began being used in the company’s advertising in the 1890s.

Pink star with white letters and black text on a yellow background in the middle of an illustration of a man and woman.

Tess and Ted, "the Star Brand kids," were characters created in the early 1900s to be featured in advertising materials for children's shoes manufactured by the Roberts, Johnson, and Rand Shoe Company in St. Louis, Missouri. The rhyming adventures of Ted and Tess were featured in trade catalog books and became a song and dance act performed for children in St. Louis. The Roberts, Johnson, and Rand Shoe Company merged with the Peters Shoe Company, and these two largest shoe companies in St. Louis became the International Shoe Company in 1911. The Roberts, Johnson, and Rand-International Shoe Company Complex still stands on the corner of Mississippi Street and Hickory Street in St. Louis. It has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. 

White text on a red and navy blue background.

Sunny Monday laundry soap was one of several soaps manufactured by N.K. Fairbank & Co. Originally established as Fairbank, Peck & Co. in 1864 by Nathaniel K. Fairbank and John Peck as the successor to Smedley, Peck & Co., a Chicago lard processor and soap maker. The company employed about 160 men, women, and children and produced about $2 million worth of lard, soap, and cottonseed oil a year by 1870. In 1875, it was purchased by American Cotton Oil and was renamed N. K. Fairbank & Co. By 1890, the company had several sales branches and had become famous for its distinctive advertising, using catchy slogans like "Sunny Monday bubbles will wash away your troubles." The company also produced Fairy soap, known for its innovative ability to float in bathwater, and Gold Dust Washing Powder, an all-purpose cleaning agent that was recognizable for its trademark, the Gold Dust Twins, and slogan "Let the Gold Dust Twins do your work." 

Maroon button with a large white stripe in the middle. Yellow and maroon text. 

Subway, a popular American sandwich fast food chain, was founded in 1965 by 17-year-old Fred DeLuca, who opened a submarine sandwich shop in Birdgeport, Connecticut to help fund his way through medical school. With a $1,000 loan from a friend, DeLuca opened Pete's Submarines. DeLuca opted to change the name because when he said it in his Brooklyn accent, people often misheard it as "Pizza Marines" (McFadden, 2015). The store was rebranded as "Subway" in 1968 when it was franchised. 

White text on a blue banner across an illustration of a wheel with an outer red edge.

Founded in 1852 in Indiana, Studebaker produced wagons for farmers, miners, and the military. The company began manufacturing automobiles in 1902. The first gasoline automobile the company produced was released twelve years later. Over the next 50 years, the company became known for its quality and reliability. However, the company went defunct in 1967 because of financial problems.

Illustration of a red star with white text on it and blue text around the outer edge on a white background

The initials "R, J, R, & S" on this button stand for the Roberts, Johnson and Rand Shoe Company. The company was started in 1898 by brothers Jack and Oscar Johnson, with the help of their cousin Frank C. Rand, and financial backer John C. Roberts, in St. Louis, Missouri. Shoe manufacturer Beverly Hixson met with Oscar Johnson to share his prepared samples of the Star Brand, a six-inch high women's shoe, and persuaded Johnson of the value of the unusual shoe. Roberts, Johnson and Rand Shoe Company provided additional funding for the Hixson Company, and the Star Shoe Company was incorporated in 1899. Star Brand shoes were manufactured at a plant in Hannibal, Missouri into the twentieth century. 

By 1905, St. Louis was third in the country in shoe production. Roberts, Johnson, and Rand Shoe Company merged with the other large shoe company in St. Louis, Peters Shoe Company, to form the International Shoe Company in 1911, but each company maintained its own identity. 

Illustration of a smiling frog and black text on a light green background

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Photograph of the Snuggle bear on a blue background with blue text

Snuggle is a brand of fabric softener sold by Sun Products in the U.S. and Canada. Since 1983, the brand has been represented by a bear named Snuggle. Today, Snuggle sells fabric softeners in a variety of scents, including the original Blue Sparkle and Island Hibiscus and Rainflower.

Blue and white illustration of a clock face with red text on top

This is most likely a promotional button for Dr. Pepper during one of their ad campaigns. In the 1930’s research was conducted showing that the average person is most in need of an energy boost at 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. After a contest was held to come up with an advertising slogan the winner was “Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4”. Many of Dr. Pepper’s advertisements after that featured the “10, 2, 4” slogan in varying forms until the slogan changed in the 1950’s.