Cotton-Pickin Hands Off

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Text on Button KEEP YOUR COTTON-PICKIN HANDS OFF MY BUTTON!
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Black text on bright reddish orange background

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"Keep your cotton-pickin hands off" is a phrase that was used casually by singer Johnny Bond in the song "Keep your cotton-pickin hands off my girl" in 1951 and again by singer Mickey Barnett in the song "Keep your cotton-pickin hands off my gin" in 1974. Picking cotton is a laborous act that would often leave workers with stinging or cut hands. As early as the 1700s, the term "cotton-picking" was used as slang for "damned" or other pejoratives. The phrase gained popularity in the 1940s and continued through the 1950s, even featuring in a Bugs Bunny children's cartoon. Derivatives of this phrase, such as "wait a cotton-picking minute" have also gained popularity over the years with the suggested meaning of cotton-picking as a replacement for damned.

In 2011, Canadian Parliament brought light to the racist connotation of the phrase and questioned the continued usage since most of those who had been known as cotton pickers were black slaves on plantations. Other phrases have been suggested to define frustration rather than one that has a racist or derogatory history.

Sources

Delacourt, S. (2011). Ignatieff accused of racist slur in cotton-picking controversy. Retrieved 10 September 2021, from https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2011/03/11/ignatieff_accused_of_rac…

Thorpe, J. (2015). 5 Racist English Phrases With A Seriously Awful History. Retrieved 10 September 2021, from https://www.bustle.com/articles/118386-5-racist-english-phrases-with-a-…

Catalog ID SR0088

116th Birthday of the Pinback Button

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Text on Button This Button Celebrates the 116th Birthday of the Pin-Back Button; National Pin-Back Button Day 2012; Patent #534,356 on July 21 1896
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Black text on a white background with golden lines on the edges.

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This free, limited-edition, commemorative button was made and distributed by the Busy Beaver Button Company in 2012 to celebrate the 116th birthday of the pinback button. July 21 was declared as the day to honor the button as a graphic art form and social communication device by button gurus, Ted Hake and Christen Carter. This specific date was chosen because it is the same date, in 1896, when the nation’s first and foremost button maker, Whitehead & Hoag of Newark, NJ received their final patent for their unique process.

Catalog ID EV0218

WONW Sports Fan

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Text on Button I'm A Sports Fan 1948 1981 WONW
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White text on red edges and blue text on a white stripe down the middle of the button

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WONW 1280 AM is a sports, news, and talk radio station located in Definance, Ohio. WONW has been on the air since 1948 and continues to broadcast programming in Defiance and the surrounding area.

Catalog ID SP0091

Wisconsin

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Text on Button WISCONSIN
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A white background with red text and one red and one white ribbon attached to the bottom

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Referring to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this button most likely represents one of their sports teams. The University of Madison is a public research university that was founded when the territory received statehood in 1848. It is the oldest and largest public universities in the state. It contains 20 schools and colleges that enrolled 43,275 total students as of Fall 2013. The school is known for its prominence in sports. 

Catalog ID SP0039