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This button refers to the way that heroin use can severely damage one’s physical and mental wellbeing as well as the negative effect its use can have on overall quality of life. In the early 1970s many soldiers came home from fighting in Vietnam having developed an addiction to heroin and the drug’s pervasiveness continued to grow throughout the 70s. In 1971, President Nixon named drug abuse as “public enemy number one in the United States” and announced the creation of the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention, to be headed by a leading methadone treatment specialist.  Previously, the primary emphasis was on trying to arrest the problem of heroin out of existence. Law enforcement went after the whole chain of possession and trafficking and drug charges soon accounted for half to three-quarters of the population of some federal prisons. But as lives began to be lost in great numbers and as heroin abuse provided a vector for new and old diseases, the emphasis began to shift more towards treatment and recovery for the addict.

Illustration of a fist holding strands of hair with blue outlined text across the top and blue text on the forearm on a yellow background

Hairpower was a hair salon in Greenwich Village, New York, owned by Carlo Manfredi. In operation from 1970 until 1994, it was famous for its cutting-edge styles.

Illustration of a person's head with yellow hair and a light brown beard and mustache on a green background with black text along the top edge

This button refers to the 1981 Irish hunger strike that was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland.  Long Kesh Detention Centre, now known as Her Majesty’s Prison Maze, was a prison that was used to house paramilitary prisoners (mostly members of the IRA). One of the local names for the prison was the H Blocks and it was reportedly run like a prisoner of war camp. In the late 1970s, prisoners stages protests against their treatment and aimed to re-establish their political status by demanding certain rights, including the right to not wear a prison uniform. Their protests did not initially garner much attention, but in 1980, several prisoners volunteered to be part of a hunger strike. The second hunger strike began in 1981 when the IRA’s former commanding officer, Bobby Sands, refused food.  It was a showdown between the prisoners and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Bobby Sands was actually elected as a Member of Parliament during the strike, prompting media interest from around the world. Sands’ death on the 66^th day of his hunger strike prompted rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. The strike radicalized Irish nationalist politics and was the driving form that enabled Sinn Féin to become a mainstream political party.

Illustration of a grey elephant's head wearing a black hat and tie and holding a large black toothbrush on a yellow background with red text along the bottom

In the 1950s, the New Zealand Department of Health published a poster featuring a variation on this illustration along with the slogan “An Elephant Never Forgets. Clean your teeth after meals and before bed.” The poster was one of a series of which aimed to promote dental hygiene in children.

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The "Friends of the Free Library" is a non-profit organization made up of a group of volunteers located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The volunteers at the “Friends of the Free Library” keep libraries open, vital, and relevant by helping to pay for books and programs.  The organization was founded in 1973, and since then has been an independent, charitable organization supporting the 54-branch Free Library system in Philadelphia. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a public library system, and is the 13^th largest public library system in the United States. 

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Dope is for dopes is a slogan created from a segment in the television series Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids Season 1, Episode 17. An excerpt from the episode description reads as follows: Franny Bates' brother Muggles gives him money and a number of material things that he shares with the gang, including a motorcycle that eventually gets wrecked by Fat Albert. He personally goes to Muggles to do what he can to pay for it. Muggles gives Albert a package to deliver, eventually learning it contains narcotic drugs after he gets apprehended by the police, who determine he didn't know about the drugs. Fat Albert agrees to help them catch Muggles and arrest him to stop his drug dealing. While Franny no longer acknowledges Fat Albert as a friend, the rest of the gang stick up for him, knowing he did the right thing to get illegal drugs off the streets.

Along with the popularity of the phrase, the show also provided a song with the same title, Dope is for Dopes.

Illustration of hands holding a scrub brush and a paint bruch on a white inner circle surrounded by an outer blue edge with white text

This button is most likely related to two documentary film shorts released in 1953 and 1954 called The House in the Middle, which showed the effects of a nuclear bomb test on three small houses. The houses on the left and right are run down and poorly maintained, but the house in the middle is clean, freshly-painted, and well-kept. The middle house survives the attack, while the more rundown houses do not. The 1953 version of the film was created by the Federal Civil Defense Administration (which created a nationwide plan for fallout shelters) to show that taking care of your house could help protect you from a nuclear bomb dropped by the Soviet Union.

The 1954 version of the film was released in color by the National Clean Up – Paint Up – Fix Up Bureau, which was created by the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association. This version of the film was geared more toward marketing paint than protection against bombs. 

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Proposition 19, also known as the California Marijuana Initiative (CMI), was a ballot initiative on the November 7, 1972 statewide ballot. The official advocacy group for the initiative was “Yes on 19.” If passed, it would have revised California’s laws about marijuana, and would have made it so that no person 18 years of age or older could be punished in any way for growing, processing, transporting, or possessing marijuana. The initiative was defeated by 66.5%, with only 33.5% Yes votes. Supporters argued that the initiative would decriminalization personal use activities, but not legalize marijuana or encourage sales or use.  

Illustration of silouettes of people from baby to old age over purple text on a white background

Maggie Kuhn popularized the phrase " The best age is the age you are," while being an activist for age rights. Kuhn started a group known as the Gray Panthers, which was an advocacy group for the rights of the elderly. The group was founded after Kuhn was forced to retire at age 65 and met with other retirees to discuss injustices they faced. The original group name was Consultation of Older and Younger Adults for Social Change, but its current name was coined by a news anchor that compared them to the Black Panthers.

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