Color illustration of two people and a cat-like animal with a blue background and a white outer edge with black text

National Hispanic Heritage Month originated in 1968 as a way to celebrate Hispanic Americans and their culture which is contribued to American society.  The decision to celebrate in September is a result of five Central American countries celebrating their independence at that time.  Every year the President issues a Proclamation to designate the time of September as National Hispanic Heritage Month.  On September 14th, 1995, President Clinton issued Proclamation 6823 honoring National Hispanic Heritage Month.  

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This button was used to help commemorate "National American Indian Heritage Month."  U.S. President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution declaring November "National American Indian Heritage Month."  Since 1994, other proclamations have been announced using the names "Native American Heritage Month" and "National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month."  Heritage Month presents education opportunities to the general public about tribes and raises awareness of Native Americans.

Colorful illustration of a person in a landscape with an outer brown edge with black text

This button was used to help commemorate "National American Indian Heritage Month."  U.S. President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution declaring November "National American Indian Heritage Month."  Since 1994, other proclamations have been announced using the names "Native American Heritage Month" and "National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month."  Heritage Month presents education opportunities to the general public about tribes and raises awareness of Native Americans.

Black and white photo of a baseball player with black text

Born in 1916, Philip Joseph Cavarretta was a Major League Baseball first baseman, outfielder, and manager. Cavarretta played for 20 seasons with the Cubs from 1934-1953, and was voted National League Most Valuable Player in 1945 after leading the Cubs to winning the pennant and batting with a .355 average. Cavarretta became a manager of the Cubs in 1951 until moving to the White Sox in 1954, where he ended his career in the Major Leagues. He then became a manager for the minor leagues from 1956 to 1958 and again from 1965-1972. During his career, Cavarretta had a .293 batting average with 95 home runs and 920 runs batted in (RBI). Cavarretta died of complications from a stroke in 2010, and was also battling leukemia at the time of his death.

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

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Born in 1909, Stanley Camfield Hack, nicknamed "Smiling Stan," was a third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball. Hack played his entire career for the Chicago Cubs and was the top third baseman in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Hack is considered one of the greatest Cubs of all time, ranking second in games at third base, and also second in putouts, assists, and total chances, and third in double plays in National League history. Hack also led the National League in hits and stolen bases twice, and had a .301 batting average. 

Hack quickly became a popular player, and in 1935, fans were given mirrors with a picture of Stan on the back side, with the words, “Smile with Stan”. Unfortunately, the fans used the mirrors to reflect the sun into the eyes of the opposing team, and the mirrors were quickly banned from the stadium. After retiring from baseball, Hack became a minor league coach and batting coach from 1948-1966, and finally a restaurant manager with his second wife. Hack died at the age of 70 in 1979.

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Black and white photo of a baseball player with black text.

Born in 1908, William “Billy” Frederick Jurges was a shortstop, manager, coach, and scout in Major League Baseball. Jurges played for the Chicago Cubs for his first eight seasons from 1931-1938, and later played seven more seasons for the New York Giants from 1939-1945. During his time with the Cubs, he played in three World Series, the Cubs winning in 1932, 1935, and 1938. From 1946-1947, Jurges was a player-coach for the Cubs, and later a coach for the Boston Red Sox and a baseball scout for many years. Jurges died in 1997 after a six-year battle with cancer at the age of 88.

Perhaps overshadowing his time in baseball was a strange event that happened in July, 1932 when Jurges’s ex-girlfriend, lounge singer Violet Valli, came to Jurges’s hotel room to confront him with a gun. She claimed her plan was to commit suicide, but Jurges intervened and took two bullets, one to his hand and another in the ribs. Valli was also shot in the hand, and the entire incident is said to be the inspiration for the book and film, The Natural, starring Robert Redford. Jurges didn’t press charges, and he returned to the Cubs after he recovered.

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

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Born in 1911, George “Tuck” Stainback was a major league baseball outfielder for several teams, including the Chicago Cubs (1934–1937), St. Louis Cardinals (1938), Philadelphia Phillies (1938), Brooklyn Dodgers (1938–1939), Detroit Tigers (1940–1941), New York Yankees (1942–1945), and Philadelphia Athletics (1946). He competed in two World Series and finished his career with a btting average of .259. An LA native, Stainback returned to the area after retiring from baseball, and then became an executive for the Dodgers after they moved to LA in 1958. He developed group ticket sales and supervised the Dodgers’ Knothole program, which treated children to free baseball games. Stainback died in 1992 as the result of a stroke. 

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

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This button was for the Tom Murray clothing store in Chicago, which sold shirts, pants, jackets, hats, dresses, and other items. The "Meet me face to face" slogan encouraged potential customers to visit his shop in person. Murray was known as a successful advertiser whose campaigns were often imitated by competing shops, and who sometimes wrote ads in newspapers and clothing trade journals. He sold good-quality clothing at slightly lower prices than his competitors and was once known as "Ten-Dollar Tom." Murray's shop was in business from 1898-1915, when he closed it and started selling clothes by mail order.

One of Murray's most notable stunts was hiring a woman to paint his shop's outdoor sign in 1906. Since women were not allowed in such a job at that time, Alice DeBarry's sign-painting drew crowds and even caused traffic jams. Police made her stop painting and took her to the station. Murray posted DeBarry's bond and then employed her as a cashier in his shop.

White text outlined with black on a green background. Black text on illustration of a pioneer landscape with a tepee, wagon, and a man and woman in the foreground.  Two white milk jugs on left and right edge of button.

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“There’s no place like home” is an idiom meaning that one prefers their own home, town, or city over any other place on earth. It is widely associated with the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, but in fact the expression became popular over one hundred years prior to this. It appears in the last lines of the song ‘Home, Sweet Home,’ written in 1823 by John Payne and Sir Henry Bishop for the opera Clari. Sung at the end of the first act, the song was met with thunderous applause during its first performance at London’s Covent Garden, and from then on became popular in the English-speaking world.