White text on a purplish background - this is on a sticker stuck to the front of the button

The NUT in the center of this button stands for National Union of Teachers, which is a trade union, founded in 1870, for school teachers in the United Kingdom and the largest teachers’ union in Europe. The NUT mounts many different campaigns concerning education issues and working conditions for union members. Some of the NUT’s current policies are: fair pay for teachers, work-life balance for teachers, against academies, abolition of National Curriculum Tests, and one union for all teachers. This specific campaign button was most likely distributed in anticipation of an upcoming election in which voters would be presented with educational issues.

Black text on a yellowish white background with a blue white and red outer ring

In 1895, the city of Providence, Rhode Island demanded a public transit system that would allow for free transfers for passengers. The Union Railroad Company claimed it would lose $250,000 annually through a transfer system due to fraud. As a sort of compromise, Union Railroad demanded that the city waive its tax obligations in order to offset its loss through the free transfer system. The city refused to meet this condition and introduced city-wide legislation for a free and unrestricted transfer system. The URC made a counteroffer for free transfers in exchange for not having to sponsor road repairs.

Senator Nelson Aldrich argued for the rights of URC, claiming that if the company’s rights were not upheld, the rights of all public and private corporations would be at risk. Councilman P.J. McCarthy countered by arguing that the city’s legislators were servants of the URC and warned of the dangers of allowing one company to monopolize the city’s transit system. As the debate continued, the Outlet Company passed out the “Transfer Tickets or Nothing” button to the public as a sort of protest against the URC. It wasn’t until 1902 that the URC actually began issuing transfer tickets, and then only in exchange for legislative favors.

Molloy, S. (1996). Trolley wars: Streetcar workers on the line (pp. 92-94). Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Black and white text over an illustration of a needle through fabric on a purple background

The Names Project Foundation works to preserve and use the AIDS Memorial Quilt to raise awareness about AIDS. The quilt itself weighs nearly 54 tons and has over 48,000 panels that are dedicated to more than 94,000 individuals, most of whom lost their lives to AIDS, and is a well-recognized symbol for the AIDS epidemic. The quilt is often used to fight prejudice, fundraise, and to unite people in the fight against AIDS.

Illustration of a brown dog upright and wearing a brown trench coat with black and red text around the outer edge on a white background

McGruff the Crime Dog is cartoon bloodhound that was created for the National Crime Prevention Council for use by American police in building crime awareness among children. McGruff debuted in July 1980 and his motto was, “Take a bite out of crime.” McGruff was used in commercials, songs, educational videos and booklets, covering topics on drugs, bullying, safety and the importance of staying in school. The image and text that is on the button is the official logo.  

Red illustration of a four legged creature with a pointy tail and a smile with red text above and below on a white background

KQED, covering the San Francisco area, is one of the country’s top public broadcasting stations. In late 1974 and early 1975, 80 employees of their TV and radio stations went on strike, marking the first major strike against any public broadcasting station in history. The strikers and their union, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, churned out buttons, bumper stickers, t-shirts, posters and leaflets with this image which helped to gain popular support for KQED’s engineers, camera operators, announcers and others. The strikers held rallies and popular demonstrations, which garnered hundreds of letters of support demanding refunds for network contributions and vowing to discontinue donations if the strike was not settled fairly for the employees. The cause was even supported by popular folk singer Joan Baez, union leader Cesar Chavez, and then-State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. Sadly, the strike ended with employees only getting their most basic demand for union contracts, but little else. 

Illustration of an old fashioned stove with a red outline and line across the image on a white background with black text on the outer edge

This slogan was developed by Malcolm M. Knapp, Inc., a company that provided a variety of consulting services to clients in the foodservice industry, in 1977. During the 1970’s the “stamp-out” term was applied to multiple social causes and it is used here rather ironically for the restaurant industry. The button encourages people to eat out more for the benefit of restauranteurs and the foodservice industry in general. 

Illustration of a screw and red text on a white background

This button most likely corresponds with California Proposition 32, which was defeated by voters in November of 2012. The proposition sought to prohibit unions from using payroll-deducted funds for political purposes and permit voluntary employee contributions to an employee-sponsored committee or union with yearly written authorization. The proposition also aimed to ban contributions to candidates by corporations and labor unions and ban contractors who receive government contracts from donating to office holders involved in awarding the contract or committees controlled by said officers.  The proposition was strongly opposed by workers unions and supporters of unions who view the proposition as being anti-labor.

Illustration of a black and white cow on a turquoise background with black text

This button was part of an awareness campaign ran by the Washington State Dairy Federation (WSDF) in the 1990's. During this time, many dairy farmers were going out of business due to low milk prices and efforts to increase regulations. The phrase "save the spotted cow" was a play on another campaign, "save the spotted owl" that sought to decrease logging that destroyed their habitats. The campaign, however, had little success as prices stayed low and many more dairy farmers chose to leave their businesses in hard economic times.

Illustration of a tree in green and brown with black text on a white background

"Put Your Money Where the Money Is" refers to a trademark slogan by Leon Shaffer Golnick Advertising, Inc. This is an advertisement for Mutual Savings and Loan Association that, along with an image of the tree, reads: "Under the Spreading Money Tree, This is the likely place for your seed money. Money you want to save in the safest, most convenient, most productive way. Or, money you want on terms you can live with for a home loan. This is the place to see the fruits of your labor grow. Here, where the smart money is. PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE THE MONEY IS...does you more good there!"

Illustration of a person putting trash in a garbage can with white text on a green background

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