Rainbow with white text on a black background

In 1977, a Volvo car show in Pennsylvania advertised a 7th Anniversary Sale. The tagline for the advertisement was “Looking Good,” and the sale was held over the course of three days in November. There were special deals on the new 1977 Volvos, and refreshments and beverages were served at between 5:00 and 9:00 PM. The company hosting the sale was called Ertle Volvo, located at 798 N. 9th St., Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. 

The cold war took place from 1946 to 1991, and the 1970s were still in the midst of the tension between communist and democratic states. Volvo was a Swedish company, and Sweden was neutral, or “un-aligned” during the cold war conflict. Volvo was a major car producer in Europe at the time, and a proposed merger with Saab-Scania in 1977 was widely discussed news. The merger proposal was dropped, as the Saab-Scania company was not interested in merging.

Blue text on white background with blue, black and white illustrated airplane character. 

The airplane character featured on this button is depicting the "Pan Am Smile," named for the greeting stewardesses gave to passengers. 

Commonly known as "Pan Am", Pan American Airways was the largest airline in the United States from its inception in 1927 to its collapse in 1991. Its first flights were scheduled passenger and mail service between Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba. Over the years, Pan Am aircraft were involved in a number of accidents, terrorist attacks, and hijackings, the most notable of these perhaps being a runway collision between two Boeing 747's in Tenerife, Spain. The crash killed 538 people, making it the most deadly incident in aviation history, and led to changes in the industry regarding safety and communications protocol. The international air travel industry attributes the use of jumbo jets and computerized reservation systems, along with other innovations, to Pan Am. The company declared bankruptcy in January 1991 and by December of the same year, Pan Am ceased all operations. 

Illustration of an airplane with a face and what looks like a large belly on a white background with an outer blue white then red ring

American Airlines has been in business since 1936 and was first known as American Airways. Charles Lindbergh flew the first American Airlines flight, delivering U.S. mail from St. Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois in 1926. Founder C.R. Smith worked together with Donald Douglas to create the first passenger plane, the DC-3 in 1936 beginning a new industry.

The first flights were out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company has since expanded to offer flights to 350 destinations in 50 countries.

American Airlines red and blue AA logo with the eagle was first designed in 1968 by Massimo Vignelli of Unimark. The logo was seen painted onto the tails of American Airlines’ planes until 2013 when the company rebranded to a new minimalist red and blue eagle head design. The tails of post-2013 planes are painted with the stripes of the American flag.

Black and white photograph of William Howard Taft

William Taft was the 27th President of the United States (1909-1913). He used campaign buttons with his picture and no words on them in almost every campaign he ran. This button is from his 1908 presidential campaign against William Jennings Bryan. Despite saying that the only way he was likely to move to Washington was if his wife became the Secretary of Treasury, Taft served as Secretary of War under Theodore Roosevelt from 1904-08. Roosevelt then chose Taft to succeed him as the Republican party's Presidential nominee after the end of his second term and Taft accepted the nomination at the urging of his wife. Taft was a very capable lawyer, jurist, and administrator, but not interested enough in politics to be an especially successful President. He did not have the leadership qualities his predecessor did and was unable to keep the loyalty of his party. He rarely gets credit for his substantial efforts to break up trusts and is more often remembered for getting stuck in a White House bathtub. 

Red text on yellow background

The 1964 U.S. presidential election saw a contentious battle play out between incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson and his Republican challenger Barry Goldwater. Johnson championed his passage of the 24th Amendment, which outlawed poll taxes, as well as the Civil Rights Act. Lyndon and his wife Claudia were sometimes referred to as the “Birds” due to the First Lady’s nickname. Born Claudia Alta Taylor, she was called “Lady Bird” from a young age when her nursemaid remarked that she was as “purty as a ladybird.”

In contrast, Goldwater ran on the promise of lower taxes and states’ rights. He was also a fierce opponent of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and believed that the Johnson administration was overreaching its powers. To show their support, Goldwater’s defenders donned anti-Johnson buttons that read “Bye Bye Birds” and “Lady Bird, Lady Bird, Fly Away.” Although Goldwater “built his career on bashing unions,” many of these campaign pin-backs were ironically created and worn by union members. In the end, Johnson carried 44 states along with the District of Columbia and won in a landslide.

Red text on a yellow background

Edward U Notz, Republican from Illinois, ran for for US House, District 9, in 1968. Notz was a lawyer practicing in Chicago before and after his political run. He ran on the notion that America had been making promises, domestic and international, that it could not keep and that should come to an end if he was to be elected. Notz was running against the incumbent Democrat Sidney Yates during his campaign. Yates won the seat 64 percent to 36 percent Notz.

White text on a blue circle with a white outer ring then an orange outer ring

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Red and white illustration of a witch holding a ball with a character busting out of it and red text on a white background

On October 30, 1964, the University of Wisconsin had its Homecoming rally celebration with a Halloween Horrorscope theme. The event had thirty-one student-made displays which featured the predicted terrible fate of the Michigan State Spartans, their opponent at the football game the following night. The displays showed the Spartans "boiled in cauldrons, speared with tridents, stung by scorpions, eaten by spiders, stuck with pins by a voodoo, and hexed by witches." The displays were very large and animated, with one of the most memorable including three story tall Bucky Badger mascots. Around three thousand students attended the rally at Langdon Street that afternoon. Cheerleaders started the “Yell like Hell” festivities, with chants of “On, Wisconsin” filling the air. Football coach Milt Bruhn gave a speech, and the student display contest winners were announced. 

The Homecoming football game followed that Saturday on October 31. Unfortunately, the University of Wisconsin Badgers lost to the Michigan State University Spartans 22-6. The football game took place at Camp Randall stadium and sold out of tickets with 65,728 attendees cheering in the crowd. The University of Wisconsin class reunion also took place this weekend, with many alumni returning to watch the game and partake in festivities. The crowd was full of cardinal red in support of the Badgers and green for the Spartans, with Badger fans also bringing long red and blue plastic horns they blew at touchdowns. Fans were also able to watch the game from home on WHA-TV channel 21 in the Madison, Wisconsin area.

Illustration of hot air balloons on a light blue sky with an outer blue edie with white text

This button was created for the 1981 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade. Held annually in San Francisco, the event celebrates both individuality and community and promotes the rights of all humans to love and be loved. Over the years, the name of the event has evolved, beginning in 1970 as the Christopher Street Liberation Day Gay-in and changing to Christopher Street West (1972), Gay Freedom Day (1973-1980), International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade (1981-1994), and San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade and Celebration (1995-present). 

Illustration of a a bird's head with black text above on a yellow background with a blue feather sticking ouf of the pin on the back of the button

The 1964 U.S. presidential election saw a contentious battle play out between incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson and his Republican challenger Barry Goldwater. Johnson championed his passage of the 24th Amendment, which outlawed poll taxes, as well as the Civil Rights Act. Lyndon and his wife Claudia were sometimes referred to as the “Birds” due to the First Lady’s nickname. Born Claudia Alta Taylor, she was called “Lady Bird” from a young age when her nursemaid remarked that she was as “purty as a ladybird.” To show their support, Johnson’s defenders donned pro-Johnson buttons that read “We're for the Birds” and “Welcome Lady Bird”.

On the other hand, Goldwater ran on the promise of lower taxes and states’ rights. He was also a fierce opponent of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and believed that the Johnson administration was overreaching its powers. In the end, Johnson carried 44 states along with the District of Columbia and won in a landslide. He served his first full-term presidency from 1964 to 1968.