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. 

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.

White text on a dark blue background.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.).

Blue text on a white background.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

Red text in center surrounded by rainbow colored squiggles.

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

White background with a large image of a brass horn covered with a city skyline in the background and several people in the foreground. The woman in the image is carrying several mugs of a beverage, and a logo is above right of the horn.

Between 1978 and 1983, Schlitz Brewing Company sponsored Chicagofest, a summer music festival that took place in the Chicago, Illinois. Performers over the years included The Blues Brothers, Muddy Waters, Frank Sinatra, Cheap Trick, and The Commodores.

Schlitz Brewing Company was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin brewery established in the late 1800s by Joseph Schlitz after he acquired the company from August Krug. They were known for making lagers, but they also made a malt liquor. In 1871, the brewery was coined “The Beer that Made Milwaukee Famous” after sending barrels of beer to the Chicago during the Great Chicago Fire. About 100 years later, Schlitz became the largest brewery in the world.

Orange-red thin border on a white background with orange-red text, an orange-red image of a globe with a city of skyscrapers on top surrounded by a blue circular border in the center, with black text on the globe and smaller white text in the blue border below the globe.  

Chicago has a long history as one of the convention capitals of the United States, and has played host to many large-scale political and professional conventions including the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the 2012 NATO Summit. The city houses McCormick Place, which is the largest convention center in North America. McCormick Place, the city's first permanent convention and exposition center, opened in 1960 and was then rebuilt and expanded after a fire destroyed the original building in 1967. The Chicago Convention Bureau, the organization that distributed this button, is now housed under Choose Chicago, a tourism marketing organization launched in 2012 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The mission of Choose Chicago is to bring both tourists and business professionals to Chicago, in an effort to boost the city’s economy and the community at-large.