Illustration of a person playing an instrument and wearing a hat with a feather in it on a yellow background with black text along the top and bottom edges.

La Caravane du Tour is a forty-five minute to one-hour long parade of specially designed advertising vehicles that rolls ahead of the Tour de France. The Tour de France is the largest sport event held every year, and includes around two hundred cyclists racing over two thousand miles over the course of twenty-three days. Most of the race is in France, but sometimes the race does enter into countries that border France. There are twenty-two teams from around the world that participate, and the race usually takes place during the month of July.

The Tour de France began in 1903, and was a publicity stunt created by Henri Desgrange to raise awareness of his newspaper, L'Auto. The caravan of the Tour de France started in 1930 when Henri Desgrange sought a way to pay for the bicycles race organizers supplied riders. The first line up of vehicles promoting French products was a hit, and the caravan became a tradition.

The advertisers driving their specialized vehicles give away freebies to spectators; one estimate stated there were fourteen million small items given away by La Caravane du Tour. Many people who have not seen the Tour de France in person are unfamiliar with the La Caravane du Tour as it is not included in the annual television broadcasting of the Tour de France. But catching the caravan, seeing the fantastic vehicles, and getting lots of free items is one of the big draws for in-person spectators every year.

Illustration of a red maple leaf with a white 7 on it on a white circular background with a blue outer edge with white text

Established in 1978, Maple Flag is an advanced aerial combat training exercise hosted at the Canadian Forces Base, Cold Lake, in Alberta, Canada. The Royal Canadian Air Force hosts the training exercise annually over a four-week period, splitting the training into 2 two-week phases. Maple Flag provides realistic training for Canadian pilots as well as other allied air forces around the world. Training includes fighter and bomber skills, aerial refueling, transport, and air defense.

Illustration of a a brown tree wtih a building in its branches and roots coming out the bottom with brown text along the top edge on a yellow background

Red text on a white background with a map of the united states and an illustration of an apple

In the United States, Faculty and Staff Appreciation Week is observed every May. Although the origins of the event are somewhat uncertain, the movement to set aside a day to honor teachers began in the 1940s. In 1953, Eleanor Roosevelt lobbied Congress to declare a National Teacher Day. It was not until 1980 that Congress proclaimed March 7 National Teacher Day, and in 1985, the National Education Association, along with the Parent Teacher Association, voted to change National Teacher Day to National Teacher Week and to move the event to the first full week of May. Over the years, the focus has evolved to include staff and other faculty members, as well as teachers. 

Blue text on a white background

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All on a white background, large red text appears at the top of the button, followed by a block of blue with slightly smaller white text within. These two lines are bordered on each side with a red horizontal line topped with a downward-facing red triangle. Below this is the CNN logo in red, followed by two lines of even smaller text in the same hue. On the bottom curve of the button appears small text in blue.

The Cable News Network (CNN) is an American basic cable television channel and network owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. The channel was founded and first broadcast in 1980 as a 24-hour news channel and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. This button is a souvenir from CNN's studio tour/gift shop.

A blue and a red stripe with white text and an illustration on columns on top and black text along the bottom

On December 15, 1991 the United States celebrated the 200^th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. The document, which is made up of the first ten amendments of the Constitution, included freedoms like the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, and the right to a quick and fair trial. The Bill of Rights was initially used to keep the power of government in check, but by the early 20^th century it was used more for court rulings and was considered vital to the protection of the rights of the individual. The anniversary in 1991 was commemorated with buttons, stamps, coins, and a cross-country tour of a copy of the Bill of Rights.

Carelli, Richard. (1991, Decemer 8). Constitution's Bill of Rights Approaches 200^th Anniversary in Top Form: Liberty: The first 10 amendment assured the document's ratification. States wanted protection from an all-powerful federal government. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-08/news/mn-201_1_200th-anniversary

Illustration of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in ice skates on a white and red background

In 1981 Disney paired up with Mattel to create ice performances called Walt Disney's World on Ice. The performances, featuring popular Disney characters like Bambi, Cinderella, and Peter Pan acting out scenes from the movies they starred in, were a hit with family audiences and toured across the United States. Changing its name to Disney on Ice in 1998, the franchise now includes characters from the most recent Disney films and travels around the world.

Two circus clowns and a man in a light-blue blazer stand before a ticket kiosk attended by a puppet duck.

Bozo the Clown was a franchised character that originated in the 1940s. Starting in the 1950s, the rights to the characterization were licensed and various Bozos were portrayed all over the United States and elsewhere for local-market children's programming. The Bozo's Circus show, of which this button is representative, premiered in 1960 on Chicago's WGN-TV and continued up until 2001.

Illustration of a cat like character and a yellow bird under musical notes on a white background

Sandra Boynton was born in 1953 and is an American artist and humorist. She has designed over four thousand greeting cards as well as dozens of books and children's books. She has also received many awards for her work in film and music. Boynton’s art began appearing in the 1970s on card designs for Recycled Paper Greetings. By the mid 1980s, she sold over 80 million cards a year. Over 60 million copies of Sandra’s children’s books and over 500 million copies of Sandra’s cards have been sold between 1970 and 2003. In 1996, Boynton began writing and producing music, releasing five children’s albums from 1996-2013, and in 2008, she began creating videos for her most popular songs. Throughout her career, Boynton has designed for many companies including calendars, wallpaper, bedding, and paper goods.