Seniors Do It Better

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Text on Button Seniors DO IT BETTER
Image Description

Yellow text with white text over a black bar over red background. 

Curl Text 1983 BUTTON-UP CO. P.O. BOX 20275 FERNDALE MICH. 48220
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The “___ do it better” slogan has existed since at least the height of its popularity in the 1970s, and has been customized for countless identifiers, like professions, hobbies, physical traits, and nationalities. Famously, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin wore a shirt onstage in 1977 that read “Nurses Do It Better!” in honor of his then-wife Maureen, who was a nurse. Legend has it, someone in the crowd threw the shirt to him during the performance, and after reading it aloud he laughed saying, “I know!”

Sources

Led Zeppelin News. (2018, May 27). Robert Plant is selling an official ‘Nurses Do It Better’ T-shirt through his website. https://ledzepnews.com/2018/05/27/robert-plant-is-selling-an-official-n…

Reporter_at_large. (2018, January 26). Robert Plant & Led Zeppelin... Oakland Coliseum July 1977... Plant caught this shirt when a fan threw it and shouted out 'Nurses do it better!' Robert Plant laughed and said 'I know' . His wife Maureen was a qualified nurse. [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/7t86t0/robert_plant_led…

Catalog ID IB0444

Self Respect

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Text on Button self respect starts in your head
Image Description

Outlined profile of a bald head amidst black text over green background. 

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The concept of "self-respect", which is defined as the pride and confidence one has in their own self, has been the subject of many philosophical and psychological movements over the last few centuries - perhaps starting with the writings of the 18th century Enlightenment thinker, David Hume, who wrote A Treatise of Human Nature in 1749. The profile of the bald human head seen here harkens to images used to promote the popular 19th century pseudoscience, "phrenology", which deemed that the measurements of the human skull could be used to determine an individual's inherent mental traits. This "phrenological" image used in tangent with the phrase "self respect starts in your head" may simply be promoting the positive message that one should always remember that they are in charge of their own self-respect.

Sources

David Hume. (2020, June 8). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume

Phrenology. (2020, May 24). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrenology

Catalog ID IB0441

Scram

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Text on Button SCRAM
Image Description

Gesturing thumb below blue text over yellow background.

Curl Text JAPAN
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Topps, a company that is best known for sports memorabilia, produced "Wise Guy" pins during the 1960s that featured  satire/parody for novelty and humor.

Catalog ID IB0454

Same To You Buster

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Text on Button SAME TO YOU, BUSTER!
Image Description

Screaming boys face rests above green and red text over yellow background. 

Curl Text JAPAN
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Topps, a company that is best known for sports memorabilia, produced "Wise Guy" pins during the 1960s that featured  satire/parody for novelty and humor.

Catalog ID IB0421

Roller Skaters

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Text on Button Roller Skaters do it better!
Image Description

Confident roller skating feet above black text over white background. 

Curl Text SWIB, LISLE, IL 60532
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The “___ do it better” slogan has existed since at least the height of its popularity in the 1970s, and has been customized for countless identifiers, like professions, hobbies, physical traits, and nationalities. Famously, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin wore a shirt onstage in 1977 that read “Nurses Do It Better!” in honor of his then-wife Maureen, who was a nurse. Legend has it, someone in the crowd threw the shirt to him during the performance, and after reading it aloud he laughed saying, “I know!”

Sources

Led Zeppelin News. (2018, May 27). Robert Plant is selling an official ‘Nurses Do It Better’ T-shirt through his website. https://ledzepnews.com/2018/05/27/robert-plant-is-selling-an-official-n…

Reporter_at_large. (2018, January 26). Robert Plant & Led Zeppelin... Oakland Coliseum July 1977... Plant caught this shirt when a fan threw it and shouted out 'Nurses do it better!' Robert Plant laughed and said 'I know' . His wife Maureen was a qualified nurse. [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/7t86t0/robert_plant_led…

Catalog ID IB0439

Right On

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Text on Button RIGHT ON
Image Description

Green fist under white text over darker green background. 

Curl Text 1972 SAY IT WITH BUTTONS 1108 FRONT STREET LISLE, ILL 60532 (312)968-7458
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The image of a clenched fist with the phrase "Right on!" was commonly used to symbolize the Black Power Movement in the 1970s. 

Catalog ID IB0462

Private Eye

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Text on Button PRIVATE EYE
Image Description

Lenticular winking eye surrounded by blue text over red police shield over blue background. 

Curl Text MADE IN U.S.A. GREEN DUCK CO CHICAGO
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Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Catalog ID IB0432

Party Hearty

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Text on Button PARTY HEARTY
Image Description

Black text over yellow background. 

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Party Hearty is a colloquialism for partying (drinking, dancing, eating, enjoying oneself, making merry) for a sustained time, perhaps late into the night. It is sometimes expressed as “party hardy” and while the two idioms have a similar intention, “hearty” implies doing something with one’s heart (with feelings and gusto), whereas “hardy” is based on hard, and implies extreme conditions such as excessive alcohol consumption. Party Hearty is the original expression and appeared in the American lexicon in the mid-1900s.

Victorian Std Regular is a font created by the International Typeface Corporation, founded in 1970 and known as one of the first type foundries to have no history of metal type production.

Sources

Heller, S. (2019, February 19). ITC, The Most Trusted Name in Letters. PRINT. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.printmag.com/post/international-typeface-organization.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Do You 'Party Hearty' or 'Party Hardy' (or Both)? Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/party-hearty-vs-party-har….

Catalog ID IB0480

Panty Waister

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Text on Button PANTY WAISTER
Image Description

A cream background with the orange text on top and an illustration of a shirt and pants underneath

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The Pettibone Bros. Mfg, Co. Cincinnati, O. Union Bug 46 Uniform and Lodge Outfitters Badges, Flags, &c. 

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The term "panty waister" and the outfit shown on this pinback represent an item of clothing often worn by children in the early twentieth century. This clothing item was usually called a panty waist and consisted of a shirt and pants with snaps or buttons around the garments’ middles to allow easy access to diapers. It was also called a “union suit” if it had long pants (maybe with feet), or a “pantywaist” if it had shorts.

The Pettibone Bros. Mfg, Co. was founded by James and William Pettibone and was operated the in Cincinnati, Ohio. The brothers produced military and band uniforms, as well as uniforms for letter carriers and a variety of regalia items (swords, buttons etc.). 

The term panty waister or panty waist is also used as a mild slur to describe someone, often a man, who is feeble or an effeminate person. 

Catalog ID IB0058