Button shows illustration of a baby in a tub over yellow and blue shading, with black lettering over a white background.

George McManus was an artist known for several early 20th-century comic strips, including Rosie's Beau, Love Affairs of a Mutton Head, and Spareribs And Gravy. One of his most famous strips was Bringing Up Father, which featured Jiggs and his wife Maggie. In 1995, Bringing Up Father was included as part of the "Comic Strip Classics" series of commemorative U.S. postage stamps. The character Jiggs is also on the insignia of the U.S. Air Force's 11th Bomb Squadron, in which McManus served during World War I.

Button shows illustration of five hands reaching for a yellow jar and black text over a shaded blue, yellow, and white background.

"All to the Mustard" is a phrase meaning "excellent" or "all one could ask for." The illustrator of this button, Rube Goldberg, is synonymous with complicated inventions that perform simple tasks. An engineer and inventor, Goldberg also drew several comic series, including Mike and Ike (They Look Alike), Boob McNutt, and The Weekly Meeting of the Tuesday Women's Club. In the series featuring Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, Goldberg drew schematics of the comical gadgets by which he came to be known.

Goldberg was a founding member and first president of the National Cartoonists Society, whose Reuben Award for cartoonist of the year is named after him. He received a Pulitzer Prize for his political cartooning in 1948, and in 1995 was honored with a commemorative stamp as part of the "Comic Strip Classics" series from the U.S. Postal Service.

White text on a blue background surrounding an illustration of a face with a lightbulb for a nose

Reddy Kilowatt was a character developed to be the official spokesman for generating electricity.  Reddy Kilowatt served as the branding character for 70 years, first appearing in 1923.  The mascot had an international presence, from South America to Africa.  As a result of the character's popularity, it was seen on television, and items from jewelry to playing cards.  Due to the changing landscape of energy production and consumption, Reddy Kilowatt declined in popularity.  Currently a few licenses to use Reddy Kilowatt are still owned by electrical companies.  

Blue text along the top and bottom outer edge and an illustration of a character made of lightning bolt like arms and legs and holding tools.

Reddy Kilowatt was the mascot developed as the official spokesman for generating electricity.  Reddy Kilowatt was the branding character starting in 1923 and served as such for the next 70 years.  The character was seen internationally, from Africa to South America.  The mascot was commercialized upon and seen on items ranging from jewelry to playing cards.  Reddy Kilowatt declined in popularity as a result of the changing landscape of energy production and consumption.  Currently, there are a few licenses owned by electrical companies to use the Reddy Kilowatt character.

Illustration of a black and white character standing on a black missle like shape holding on to it by a reign and holding binoculars on a white background

Kellogg's issued a set of military insignia pins with their PEP cereal in 1943. The set is known as the “Pep War Insignia Pins” and features 36 WWII military squadron emblems. It was created for Kellogg's by the legendary "Premium King" Sam Gold. The Kellogg's Pep cereal brand sponsored radio programs and was known for giving away premium items such as trading cards, badges, and pinback buttons.

The mascot of the Navy Observation Squadron 3 was Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Illustration of a caucasian man in a black naval uniform on a white background.

One of a series of 86 different comic character buttons issued by Kellogg's and given away with PEP cereal between 1945-1947. Other characters in the series included Orphan Annie, Dick Tracy, Popeye and Felix the Cat.

Don Winslow was the lead character in the comic strip Don Winslow of the Navy that was distributed from 1934 to 1955. He was a  Lieutenant Commander in Naval Intellegence and chased after spys. The comic strip was also made into radio and film serial versions.

Illustration of a brown and white dog standing on green grass with a white sky background and black text along the bottom edge.

The Boston Terrier originated in the United States. These dogs are intelligent, friendly and can be easily trained.

This button is part of a larger set of 35 buttons, each with an illustration of a different dog breed. The were originally sold on a 6” x 9” cardboard sheet.

Illustration of a colorful butterfly

Seagrams Seven Crown Whiskey and the lemon-lime soda 7-Up mix to create a cocktail called the "Seven and Seven". Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, Seagrams Seven and 7-Up created joint advertising campaigns based on this cocktail. Among the slogans developed to advertise the two products, a 1979 campaign referred to Seagrams Seven and 7 Up as “America’s Favorite Couple”. The Seven and Seven cocktail appeared in movies and television shows from the 1970s, including 1973’s Mean Streets and 1977’s Saturday Night Fever. In 2000, the Seagrams Company’s liquor assets were divided between the British beverage company Diageo and the French company Pernod Ricard. 

Turquoise white and yellow text on a yellow and turquoise bakckground with a checkerboard outer edge

Rock Island Diner was a UK-based 1950s-themed restaurant chain. Its first location opened in London in the mid 1980s. Stylistically, the restaurant aimed to emulate American diners of the 1950s. The menu featured classic American diner food like hamburgers, french fries, and milkshakes. Servers at Rock Island Diner were called “Dinettes”. The Dinettes were a major draw to the restaurant, and would perform choreographed dances on the counters, often to 1950s rock and roll songs. Rock Island Diner was an integral part of a trend in the 1980s and early 1990s of rock-themed restaurants in London. The restaurant was located adjacent to Madame Tussaud’s Rock Circus, a rock and roll-themed wax museum. Due to the success of the London outpost, Rock Island Diner opened at least additional locations in the mid-1990s, however all Rock Island Diner locations were closed by the early 2000s.

Red illustration of a lion's head in the center of the button surrounded by red and black text

The oil company Gilmore Oil Company of Los Angeles developed an advertising campaign in the 1930s using the Red Lion to promote their product.  The oil company was founded by Arthur Fremont Gilmore in 1905, after discovering oil on his dairy farm.  The advertising campaign focused on the different colors of gasoline, which was the first time an oil company advertised gasoline by its color.  Dye is added to gasoline to indicate whether or not it was high-sulfur and low-tax, while clear gasoline was untaxed. Red Lion gas first appeared on the West Coast in the 1920s and remained until the 1940s.