First in City of Chicago

Category
Additional Images
Text on Button 1st in City of Chicago
Image Description

Red text on a white background.

Curl Text THE AMERICAN BADGE CO. CHICAGO IL
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Additional Information

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Catalog ID CH0181

Don't Yelp Help

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button Don't Yelp Help! Keep Chicago Clean
Image Description

Red text on a white background.

Curl Text Union Bug
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Year / Decade Made
Additional Information

Feeling inspired to clean up? This slogan was one of three selected for use in the 1964 Chicago clean up campaign led by Mayor Richard Daley’s citizen committee. The weekly Our Town column in the Chicago Tribune asked its readers for safety and cleanup slogans, and Richard Egan’s entry was made into buttons and signs posted on footbridges on Outer Drive, Chicago.

Sources

Chicago Tribune. (1964). Citizen's Hear City's Call in Cleanup, Safety Slogans, p. 158. Retrieved 9 July 2021, from https://www.newspapers.com/image/196780775/?terms=%22don%27t%20yelp%20h….

Catalog ID CH0183

Dined at Ditka's

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button I Dined at Ditka's Chicago
Image Description

Blue background with orange text overlay.

Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Additional Information

Former NFL football player, coach, and television commentator Mike Ditka opened a chain of restaurants located in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Phoenix. Ditka’s restaurants are steakhouses, serving the finest cuts of meat, which can also be purchased online at Ditka’s Premium Meats website. Most nights, Ditka is in the Chicago restaurant greeting customers and fans. 

Mike Ditka was born in 1939 and is a member of both the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fames. He was a champion in 1963 with the Chicago Bears, a three-time Super Bowl Champion, and coach of the year for the Bears in 1985 and 1988.

Catalog ID CH0175

Daley in 1975

Category
Additional Images
Text on Button Keep Chicago Alive, Daley in 75
Image Description

A white semi-circle with red text is embedded in the top third section of the button; the top third is otherwise a red background with white text. The middle third of the button is a white background with blue text. The bottom third is a blue background with white text. 

Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Year / Decade Made
Additional Information

Richard J. Daley (1902-1976) was the 48th Mayor of Chicago. His time in office lasted 21 years, from 1955 to 1976. At the time of this button's manufacture in 1975, Daley was campaigning for his 5th mayoral term on the Democratic ticket. He went on to defeat Republican John Hoellen by a wide margin and began what was to be his final term in office in early 1976. Daley died of a heart attack in December 1976 and was succeeded in office by Michael A. Bilandic, also a Democrat. Daley's son Richard M. Daley was also Mayor of Chicago, from 1989 until his retirement in 2011.

Catalog ID CH0161

Daley Dark Blue

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button DALEY
Image Description

White text on a dark blue background.

Curl Text Union Bug
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Year / Decade Made
Additional Information

This button comes from Richard J. Daley's bid to become mayor of Chicago in 1971. Daley, a Democrat, was first elected to the position in 1955, and was elected five more times, 1971 being his fifth time. While in office, Daley worked hard towards keeping Chicago from declining and oversaw the construction of iconic landmarks like Sears Tower, and O'Hare International Airport. Daley worked as Chicago's mayor for 21 years, a length of time only surpassed by his son, Richard M. Daley.

Richard J. Daley. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Daley.

Catalog ID CH0184

Chicagofest Blues

Category
Additional Images
Text on Button Chicagofest August 1-17, Olympia Beer Blues Muddy Waters and others, Olympia Brewing Company, Olympia-St.Paul
Image Description

An outer edge with a dark blue background with light blue and yellow wrap around text, and in the center of the button, a white background with a line drawing of a man who appears to be smiling or laughing. More light blue and yellow text centered above the illustration and smaller font below.

Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Additional Information

From 1978 - 1983, Olympia sponsored the Chicagofest, a summer music festival that took place on the Navy Pier. Performers over the years included The Blues Brothers, Muddy Waters, Skafish, and the Scorpions.

Olympia is an American brewing company that was founded in the late 1800s in Washington state by Leopold Schmidt. They were known for making affordable lagers until they were acquired by G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1983 (After a change of hands several times, Pabst bought Olympia beer in 1999).

Catalog ID CH0228

Chicagofest 1979

Category
Additional Images
Text on Button August 3-12 ChicagoFest '79, Olympia's Blues Deluxe
Image Description

White border with wrap around blue text and a yellow horseshoe on both the left and right sides with a blue center background with yellow and white text overlay.

Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Year / Decade Made
Additional Information

In 1979, Olympia sponsored the Chicagofest, a summer music festival that took place from 1978 – 1983. Performers over the years have included The Blues Brothers, Muddy Waters, Skafish, and the Scorpions.

Olympia is an American brewing company that was founded in the late 1800s in Washington state by Leopold Schmidt. They were known for making affordable lagers until they were acquired by G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1983 (After several change of hands, Pabst bought Olympia beer in 1999.).

Catalog ID CH0230

Chicago Youngest Great City

Category
Additional Images
Text on Button We Are Proud of Chicago Youngest Great City of the World
Image Description

Blue text on a white background.

Back Style
The Shape
The Size
Additional Information

The 19th and early 20th centuries were a golden age of boosterism where cities and towns across America promoted themselves as the next big interest, a town with a future, or the new cultural capital of the world. Often, boosters had ties to local real estate interests. “The Youngest Great City of the World” was applied to San Francisco in 1879, Brooklyn in 1883, Tokyo Japan in 1888, but it really started being applied to Chicago in the build up to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Chicago seems to have kept the unofficial title of “The World’s Youngest Great City” until at least 1919, when it was used in relation to Gary Krist’s book, City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago.

Sources

Boosterism. En.wikipedia.org. (2020). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boosterism.

The 12 Days Of Disaster That Made Modern Chicago. Wbur.org. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.wbur.org/npr/150813977/the-12-days-of-disaster-that-made-mo….

www.newspapers.com

Catalog ID CH0185

Chicago Skyline

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button CHICAGO
Image Description

Blue background with a white silhouette of a city skyline with a row of waves below it with text written in white font above the skyline.

Curl Text ACCENT CHICAGO-WATER TOWER PLACE
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
The Manufacturer
Additional Information

The Chicago Skyline is often ranked as the tallest and one of the most magnificent skylines in the world. It has three of America's five tallest buildings. The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) was once the tallest building in the world and is the second tallest building in the United States. The formation of the Skyline began after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 which left most of the downtown area destroyed and made it possible to start anew. The Mather Tower, Tribune Tower, and the Chicago Board of Trade, which still exist today, were built during the boom of the 1920s. The second wave of construction happened during the 60s and 70s with additions such as the Sears Tower, the Aon Center, and the John Hancock Center. The third wave is happening currently and includes the Trump Tower, the third tallest building in United States. 

Catalog ID CH0176

Chicagoland Sears Tower

Category
Additional Images
Sub Categories
Text on Button Chicagoland Sears Tower, World's Tallest Building
Image Description

Green border with wrap around text, inner circle image of a green building in the foreground with a silhouette of a city skyline against a multi-colored background and an orange and yellow large sun.

Curl Text Copyright symbol Best Seal Corp. New York 10013 1978
Back Style
The Shape
The Size
The Manufacturer
Additional Information

Chicagoland is an informal name for the Chicago metropolitan area. The Sears Tower, located in Chicago, was completed in 1973 and has 108 stories. At the time of its completion the Sears Tower held the title of tallest building in the world and held the title for 25 years. The Sears Tower is now the second tallest building in the United States and the 12th tallest in the world. The building is one of Chicago’s most popular tourist destinations and has more than a million visitors each year. In 1974, an observation deck called the Skydeck was opened where tourists can feel the building sway, see views of the city, and on a clear day can even see as far as the plains of Illinois and across Lake Michigan to Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. The building was renamed the Willis Tower in 2009 by the Willis Group as part of its lease on a portion of the tower's space, however, the building is still often referred to as the Sears Tower.

Catalog ID CH0171