Red background with white stars circling 3-D white text with a blue outline

The superhero age kicked off in 1938 with the first appearance of Superman in comic books. Superhero comics became especially popular during WWII, and helped to raise troop morale by vanquishing comic super-villians who were often based on real world enemy leaders. These heroes embodied quintessential American ideals, and would become firmly rooted in American culture. After being introduced in TV and movies, the superhero genre exploded in popularity and as of 2023 has become a multi-billion dollar industry. 

Blue background with red stars and 3D text with yellow text and a black shadow

Hallmark began in 1910 when Joyce Clyde Hall started selling postcards. He had little money—not even enough to take a horse-drawn cab to his lodgings at the YMCA—but he had an entrepreneurial spirit and the determination of a pioneer. Hall quickly made a name for himself with the picture postcards he sold. Rollie Hall joined his brother in business, and the company was named Hall Brothers. On January 11, 1915, a fire destroyed their office and inventory. They took the only salvageable item, their safe, and set up shop again. With $17,000 in debt, they decided to press onward. As postcard sales declined, they recognized the public’s desire for more privacy in their communication, so they started offering high-quality Valentine’s Day and Christmas cards mailed in envelopes. The fateful fire resulted in the Hall brothers’ decision to buy printing presses and begin producing their own greeting cards in 1915. Hallmark eventually made the move to manufacture and sell collectable memorabilia including pin-back buttons, most of which revolve around holidays and other special events.

Celebrating fatherhood has been around since families began. In the Middle Ages, a day devoted to honoring fathers was formally established by Catholic Europeans. Known as St. Joseph’s Day, it occurred yearly on March 19 and is still an active celebration throughout Europe today. In the U.S., Father’s Day was initially proposed as early as 1908 as a civic celebration. It wasn’t proclaimed as a national holiday for another fifty-eight years until 1966, and six years later, it became firmly established. Today, Father’s Day is celebrated annually on the third Sunday of June.

Light blue background with red text

The expression "Some of my best friends are..." dates from the 1940s or earlier and was often used to defend oneself from being seen as prejudice. The phrase is completed by the group of people the person is being accused of being prejudice against. For example, someone who is being accused of being anti-Semitic would say, "But some of my best friends are Jewish". The expression used to be taken seriously, but due to overuse it has become unconvincing and is often used sarcastically. 

Yellow background with an illustration of a man clasping his hands together, resting his nose on top of them and his eyes closed, with blush on his cheeks. The red text is above the illustration and to the left

This button is part of a set that features cartoon images of men's behaviors. There are at least five pins in the series, each depicting a different man. They are "Shy-Guy," "Loudmouth," "Freeloader," "Lush," and "Wolf." Each man's illustrations accentuate their particular title with small details; the "Shy-Guy" has blushing cheeks and keeps his eyes closed. The term "Shy-Guy" in this context refers to a man who is not comfortable around people; he is bashful, coy, and sheepish. Stylistically, the drawings are similar to mid-century cartoons found in adult magazines or illustrations on cocktail napkins.

White background with green text

SDS, or Students for a Democratic Society, was one of the largest national student activist organizations of the1960s with over 300 college campus chapters by 1965. This influential New Left group was founded in 1960 as a student offshoot of the socialist League of Industrial Democracy (LID). With the publication of their manifesto The Port Huron Statement in 1962, SDS outlined their belief in participatory democracy and their goal to right social injustices through non-violent means. Initially the group focused on promoting citizen engagement with politics and the civil rights movement but pivoted to anti-war demonstrations and protests of the Vietnam War and the draft in 1965. Ultimately the group splintered and disbanded in 1969.

Red background with white text at top. Underneath the text is an illustration of trees and structures

Scram is an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor and is sometimes used as a verb meaning "to shut down." The term has been extended to refer to shutdowns of other complex operations, such as server farms and even large model railroads. The button may have also played on the word's more conventional meaning "to go away quickly," which was originated colloquially in the US in 1920s.

Folk etymology dictates that the term comes from the acronym for safety control rod axe man and was coined by Enrico Fermi when the world's first nuclear reactor was built. But the axe-man story has been debunked by historian Tom Wellock. However, the use of the word to mean "rapid shutdown" was indeed originated in nuclear physics. 

White background and black text

"The report of my death was an exaggeration" was an expression derived from a statement by the American writer, Mark Twain, which appeared in the New York Journal of June 2 1897, in response to the newspapers's false account of Twain’s being ill or dead. It appeared that some reports confused Twain’s cousin James Ross Clemens, who was seriously ill in London at the time, with Mark Twain. The whole statement reads:

“I can understand perfectly how the report of my illness got about, I have even heard on good authority that I was dead. James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness. The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

Black background with white text with a white line resembling a mountain separating it

This button is used as a humorous and self-deprecating celebration of someone's birthday in middle age. The phrase "over the hill" means old and passed one's prime. Most people understand age of 50 to be the Over the Hill milestone. 

White background with pink text in the bottom left and a pink circle in the top right

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

A white background with black text, with the last line being in bold