Red background with a white horizontal bar in the middle with black text and three small red stars below the text. White text in the smaller red portion below the white bar, and a photograph of part of a man's head in the left foreground.

America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction was written by Comedy Central's The Daily Show host Jon Stewart along with that show's writing staff. Published by Grand Central Publishing in 2004, the book mimics the style and format of a grade school textbook and satirizes many aspects of American history, politics, and culture, in particular the 2004 U.S. presidential election. The book features a forward by "Thomas Jefferson," various arts and crafts activities, as well as chapters entitled "The President: The King of Democracy," "Congress: Quagmire of Freedom," and "The Media: Democracy's Valiant Vulgarians."

Red text on a white background.

Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie ran against Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. His campaign produced millions of buttons in response to items in the news about Roosevelt in an attempt to gain name recognition. 

White text on a red background with a thin white circle that makes a border around the text.

The Button was a bar located in Fort Lauderdale, located on Las Olas and A!A.  The owner, Greg Newell, was also known as "The Father of Spring Break."  The bar was open from the 1960s to 1980s.  Newell promoted the bar by hosting events such as wet T-shirt contests and beer bashes.  Newell passed away in 2003.  

Black text on a white background.

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White background with underlined small black text at the top of the button with larger font beneath it centered on the button.

Mantronix was a hip hop musical group from New York City.  They were influential in the early "electro funk" scene, which featured electronic instrumentation by utilizing synthesizers and hardware drum machines.  They were active from 1984-1991.  Their debut album was called "The Album", and was released in 1985. 

Yellow background with line illustration of a mug with an overflowing beverage with red text overlaying the image and very small font on the bottom of the button.

Peter Hand Brewing Company was founded in the late 1800s by Peter Hand in Chicago. They were known for their German-style beers, and Meister Bräu was one of their most popular brands. In the 1960s, James Howard and some of his associates purchased the company, renaming it Meister Bräu, Inc. In the early 1970s, Miller Brewing Company took over under the Peter Hand name but closed it in 1978. They used the Peter Hand brand name and introduced Old Chicago, which is used as a play on words for this button.

An image of an 'L' (elevated) train car appears in gold in the center of the button, all on a black background. Surrounding the image at the button's edge, as well as below it, is text in the same color.

The first "L" began operations in 1892, making it the second-oldest rapid transit system in the Americas, after Boston's "T". The Chicago Rapid Transit Company and the Chicago Surface Lines were merged in 1947 to become the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). Manufactured and distributed in 1992, this button celebrates the city's centenary of rapid transit.  
 

Four red, six-pointed stars on a white banner in between light-blue sections on the top and bottom. A red circle surrounds the two middle stars. Within the circle is also a triangle as in a slice of pizza. Under the circle is red text.

Piece Pizzeria and Brewery is located at 1927 W. North Avenue in Chicago's Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood. The restaurant primarily serves New Haven-style thin-crust pizza and microbrewed craft beers. One of Piece's co-owners is Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist of 1970s hitmakers Cheap Trick and a Rockford, Illinois native.

Pale blue background with illustration of a man with a baseball hat. Yellow bar with text on the bottom with a number below the bar.

An often overlooked pitcher from the Chicago Cubs, Guy Bush was one of the National League’s top pitchers from 1928 to 1934 and finished with 176 victories in his seventeen-year career. Bush was also one of the highest paid pitchers in the National League from 1930 through 1933. Bush was a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs (1923–1934), Pittsburgh Pirates (1935–1936), Boston Bees (1936–1937), St. Louis Cardinals (1938), and finally, he returned to baseball in 1945 and ended his career with the Cincinnati Reds. Bush's career even has ties to Babe Ruth. In a game on May 25, 1935 against the Boston Braves, Bush relieved Red Lucas as the pitcher, and Babe Ruth hit the last two home runs of his career off of Bush (home runs #713 and #714). 

This button is part of the Orbit Gum baseball series, a 54-player set issued by Orbit Gum Company of Chicago starting in 1932. Orbit had a brand of gum known as “Tattoo” which issued the baseball series buttons.

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

White background with blue and red text overlay with a line illustration of a sock with wings on the left side. 

The Chicago White Sox are also known as the "Go-Go" White Sox, due to their focus on getting on base instead of power hitting. The term "Go-Go" White Sox also appears in their fight song, "Let's Go, Go-Go White Sox", which first made its appearance during the 1959 American League pennant games. The song lost its popularity over the decades, but made a resurgence in 2005 in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It instantly became a hit with Sox fans. 

The Chicago White Sox won the American League pennant but lost to the the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to two in the 1959 World Series. The White Sox won the World Series in 2005.