With Your Little Ol Button Maker

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Text on Button STRING ALONG WITH YOUR LITTLE OL' BUTTON MAKER
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Black text on a bright orange background with an illustration of a person's head

Curl Text HANTICO LINE ASI 5951 union bug
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The Little Ole’ Button Maker was a registered trademark of the Hand Tip and Novelty Co. for promotional buttons in their line. The trademark was registered in 1970 and, on it, notes the first commercial use of the Little Ole’ Button Maker was in 1965. The trademark expired in 1993.

The Hand Tip and Novelty Co. was a manufacturer of promotional items founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1900. Their main products at that time were ornate brass medallions and political buttons. This changed in the 1950s as promotional buttons became popular advertising strategy. Hand and Tip Novelty Co. eventually became Hantico Line, a specialty advertising company. The company moved its base to Newburg, New York, in 1984. Though the Hantico Line produced other items such as ribbons, clips, and clipboards, buttons were the main focus of the company.​ Hantico was later purchased by Uniflex, a bag manufacturer, in 1992. In 1995, Uniflex Inc. sold Hantico to American Greenwood Inc. that had a similar promotional product line. 

Catalog ID SR0086

Kome Our Button

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Text on Button Kome 98.5 Our Button
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Yellow text on a black background with a yellow diamond and arrow.

Curl Text Thhe Logo Co. San Jose, Ca. 95112
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Based in San Jose, California, KOME was a popular radio station from the 1970s to the 1990s. Playing rock hits by international and local bands, the radio station quickly gained notoriety because of a number of sexual slogans that were popular with their younger audience. Throughout the late 1970s and 80s, the station added comedy to its repertoire, doing skits based on current events and doing odd advertisements for the station. The station was sold to Jacor Communications in 1997, ending KOME's time on the air.

The diamond KOME stickers were originally designed in 1972 with black-on-yellow lettering, though the colors were switched around in 1974. The stickers were popular with young Californians who liked to cut the letters to make different phrases and dirty words. Based on the success of the stickers, KOME paraphernalia was expanded to include pinbacks, cups, and shirts that could be seen around the city.

KOME. (n.d.). Retrieved September 5, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KOME

Catalog ID SR0078

Free Suzuki

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Text on Button Free Suzuki Button
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Blue text on a orange background with two white S

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Michio Suzuki founded Suzuki Motor Corporation in 1909. The company first started producing weaving looms until Michio Suzuki decided building motor vehicles were more practical. In 1952 the company built its first motorized bicycle designed to be inexpensive and easy to maintain. By 1954 the company was producing more than 6,000 motorcycles a month. Today Suzuki Motor Corporation is a multinational corporation located in Hamamatsu, Japan that manufactures automobiles, wheelchairs, all-terrain vehicles, and motorcycles.  

Catalog ID SR0099

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