Illustration of a bicycle over white text on a green background

This button promotes following general bicycling safety rules, but also the common concept that “riding right begins with riding on the right”. The specific law, which is the same in most states, says that people who ride bikes must ride as close to the right side of the road as safely practicable except when passing, preparing for a left turn, avoiding hazards, if the lane is too narrow to share, or if approaching a place where a right turn is authorized. 

Red and orange text on a blue stripe across an orange and red background

Armenian Power refers to citizens or residents of the United States who have a total or partical Armenian ancestry. They are the second largest community in the Armenian diaspora after the Armenians in Russia. Armenians began to immigrate to the U.S. in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first great Armenian migration to American began in the 1890s.There was a second wave of immigrates after 1920, along with a third wave to America following WWII. There is an estimated 700,000 Americans of Armenian acestry. 

Illustration of a woman's head and shoulders on a greenish background color with white and black text

Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who take injustice personally. They campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. They investigate and expose facts about abuse on human rights. Against Silence concerns violence against women. Their goal is to change perceptions by bringing human rights scandals concerning domestic violence into the full light and make sure people speak out, stand up, and take action. 

Illustration of a child carrying a basket with a black cat in it holding a red leash walking a dog on a white background with black text

This button comes from Bideawee, which has been the leading pet welfare organization serving New York City and Long Island for over 100 years. They offer many services to help people and their pets, including facilitating pet adoptions. The people who work at Bideawee adoption centers are called matchmakers and spend plenty of time getting to know people in order to pair them with the perfect pet.

Blue text on a blue background

This button is most likely related to the campaign to abolish the national holiday of Mother’s Day. In 1908, Anna Jarvis spearheaded the first Mother’s Day events to honor her own mother who was a Sunday school teacher and took care of wounded soldiers during the Civil War. She then campaigned for the holiday to become official and in 1914, Congress made it so. The floral and greeting card industries quickly took advantage of the commercial possibilities of the holiday and by 1920, Jarvis was disgusted by all manufacturers profiting from the holiday. She spent the rest of her life going door-to-door getting people to sign petitions to try and abolish the holiday she founded.

White text on a red circle with a white then a blue ring around it

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Black and white photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt wearing a suit.

Franklin Roosevelt served as President of the U.S. from 1933 -1945. During this time, he led the U.S. through the Great Depression and World War II. He also expanded the powers of the federal government through a series of programs known as the New Deal. Roosevelt was the only president to ever be elected four times

White text on a black ground, black text on a blue background and blue edges

In 1991, the English group Right Said Fred debuted the pop music hit “I’m Too Sexy.” The song’s lyrics primarily consist of a list of items, people, cities, and more that the singer describes himself as “too sexy” for. The song concludes with the statement that the singer is too sexy for the song itself.

Orange background with black smiley face 

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Smiley face with white shamrock eyes on a green background surrounded by a white outer edge with green text and green dots with red outlines with a green outer edge

This button was most likely produced for non-Irish people to wear on Saint Patrick's Day, a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on March 17, the day of Saint Patrick's death. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and the day commemorates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland and the heritage and culture of the Irish people.  According to legend, Saint Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans, which accounts for the use of the shamrock to depict the eyes of the face on this button. It is customary to wear shamrocks and the color green on Saint Patrick's Day. Celebrations around the world include parades, feasts, festivals and drinking alcohol.