Red white and blue background with white text across the center and an illustration of a toy race car at the top and at the bottom

Matchbox is a popular brand of die-cast toys, first manufactured in 1953 by the British company Lesney Products. Matchbox is most well known for producing die-cast miniature toy cars. Over the course of the brand's history, Matchbox has also released miniature versions of, among other things, airplanes, farm equipment, and military vehicles. The brand got its name due to the fact that, up until the 1980s, the toys were packaged in a box that resembled a box of matches.

Matchbox cars became highly collectable with children in the 1960s when the official Matchbox Collectors Club was founded. For a small fee, the club distributed a quarterly newsletter to its members. In the following decades, adults began forming unofficial collectors clubs which were often regionally based. The collectors clubs, many of which still exist today, offer a forum for collectors to discuss Matchbox toys and related ephemera. They also facilitate trading and sales of vintage and rare Matchbox toys. 

Black and white illustration of a kid in a space helmet sipping a drink through a straw and hanging on to a red line delineated shape with red text inside on a white background

Illustration of the skyline of Chicago with a rainbow above and below it and black text along the top edge on a white background.

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Illustration of woman in gray high-collar dress with black headpiece and trailing veil and black leather gloves. She is posed against pale blue background shading to cream. Blue text appears on left and right of illustration.

Widow Jones, which sold fashionable clothing for boys and young men in the early 20th century, had stores in Boston and other locations around New England. A 1909 newspaper advertisement said, "Her name today is a synonym for all that is uptodate, comfortable and nobby in boys' and young men's clothing." Another slogan said, "They Give Satisfaction from the day you buy them until they are worn out." Other clothing stores also sold the Widow Jones brand at their own shops.

Yellow red and blue illustration of a woman in a hat and glasses holding a hamburger bun in one hand on a white background with blue text

During the 1980s, the American fast-food chain Wendy's introduced their slogan "Where's the Beef?".  The phrase gained popularity in the 1980's through television commercials, which featured a mature woman looking at her burger and exclaiming, "Where's the Beef?" due to the large bun and small amount of meat. Wendy's used this slogan to advertise their claim to serve larger beef patties in comparison to their competitors.  

Illustration of a person in a blue and white outfit and a white bakers hat with pinkish text on either side on a white background surrounded by a blue, then dark blue then white outer edge and pinkish text on the blue ring.

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Pink text over an illustration of a parrot on a chartreuse green background

While it's unclear exactly what event this button was made for, "Tropical Tuesday" is a popular theme for parties, spirit weeks, and other social gatherings. The theme often involves wearing Hawaiian shirts, Hawaiian/beach-themed decorations, and tropical style cooking/drinks.

White text and an illustration of a yellow sun on a blue background

This button was distributed during the World's Fair in Chicago from 1933-1934 at the Sunsweet exhibit along with a sample of prune juice.  The logo "Century of Progress" was the headline of the World's Fair, which displayed the past 100 years of technological advanements.  Sunsweet Growers was originally founded in 1917 as the California Prune and Apricot Growers Association.  The company is currently headquartered in Yuba City, California operating the largest factory in the world that produces dried fruit.

Illustration of a fish wearingglasses and holding a can of tuna with red white and blue stripes over the top with white and blue text

In the mid 1960s, StarKist Tuna, a tuna company owned by Dongwon Industries, released buttons reading “Charlie for President” featuring their mascot Charlie the Tuna. First created by Tom Rogers in 1961, Charlie was shown wearing a hat and glasses typical to Greek fishers, and became famous when he appeared in dozens of advertisements as a fish who wants to be caught by StarKist because of his good taste. Charlie was retired for a short time in the 1980s but was brought back in 1999 and remains the mascot of SunKist Tuna.

Charlie the Tuna. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_the_Tuna

An illustration of Mr. Pikle. The character is a smiling pickle body in striped pants carrying a cane and wearing a hat and oversized white gloves. Upper banner is in red with white lettering, lower text is in red with overall white background.

The Pikle-Rite Company, a previously unincorporated entity based in Wisconsin, bought a pickle-making business in 1942. In 1946, the Pikle-Rite company began advertising their product with their mascot, Mr. Pikle. Through these advertisements, Pikle-Rite grew from a small family enterprise to a franchise sold in grocery stores across the Midwest.

In 1959, the company was involved in a lawsuit for trademark infringement in Chicago. Pikle-Rite, which had begun to use the trademark name “Polka” in 1956, was suing a Chicago-based company that sold pickles under the name “Pol-Pak” on the basis that "Pol-Pak" was imitating their name. Pikle-Rite won the suit, though the judge conceded that there was no proof that Pol-Pak was guilty of any fraud.