Cool Kid

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Text on Button COOL KID
Image Description

Purple ombre text over orange checkered background. 

Curl Text AGC, Inc.
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A "cool kid" refers to a young person who is a trendsetter and usually emulated by his or her peers. 

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Catalog ID IB0482

I'm the Guy That Put the Con in Congress

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Text on Button I'M THE GUY THAT PUT THE CON IN CONGRESS
Image Description

Con man centered in black text over white background. 

Back Paper / Back Info

Quality Tokio Cigarette Factory No 649 1st DIST. NEW YORK THE WHITEHEAD & HOAG CO. PATENTED

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Illustrator Rube Goldberg was born in San Francisco, California and moved to New York City around 1907. The phrase "I'm the guy who" was a trademark expression of Goldberg. He coined it around 1910.  He was well known cartoonist and created "Mike and Ike" and "Boob McNutt" among many other strips.  Later in life, Goldberg help found the National Cartoonist Society (1946) was awarded a Pulitzer Prize (1948) for his political cartoons.

Sources

Rube Goldberg. (2012, June 14). lambiek.net. Retrieved October 15, 2014, from http://www.lambiek.net/artists/g/goldberg_r.htm.

Catalog ID AD0392

Come'n Get It

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Text on Button COME'N GET IT
Image Description

White text over blue background. 

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"COME'N GET IT" is a colloquial way of saying "come and get it." The phrase can also be used in many contexts, such as a challenge to fight or a playful invitation. The most common meaning is a call to come and eat, as in a parent calling their children to the dinner table. It can be a challenge to confront someone, as in "Come and get it if you think you're tough!" The phrase can be used humorously to suggest that something is available and waiting for someone. 

Sources

CobbleStore Vintage. (n.d.). Vintage 80’s “Come ’N Get It” thin T‑shirt [Product listing]. CobbleStore Vintage. Retrieved November 8, 2025, from  https://cobblestore.com/products/vintage-80s-come-n-get-it-thin-t-shirt

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Come and get it | Definition of “come and get it” at Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/come-and-get-it

Catalog ID IB0442

Coffee Breaks

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Text on Button It's not the WORK that gets me down...it's the COFFEE BREAKS
Image Description

Purple text over white background. 

Curl Text JAPAN
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Catalog ID HU0120

Canned

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Text on Button CANNED!
Image Description

Frantic dog runs away from can tied to its tail above black text over white background. 

Back Paper / Back Info

HASSAN CIGARETTES
FACTORY No 649
1st DIST. N.Y.
W.& H CO
PATENTED

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George Herriman (1880-1944) became a cartoonist despite his father's guidance. He is best known for his 'Krazy Kat' comic strip, which he wrote and illustrated until his death. Herriman made his name known first in Los Angeles, California and later in New York City. In New York City, he worked at the New York Journal and the New York World.

Sources

George Herriman. (2012, June 14). lambiek.net. Retrieved October 15, 2014, from http://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/herriman.htm

Catalog ID AD0393

I Was Born This Way

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Text on Button I Was Born This Way WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?
Image Description

White and black text over red and 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 IB0460

Be Neat

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Text on Button BE NEAT! P.R.
Image Description

Black ink splotches and fingerprints around black text on white background. 

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Catalog ID IB0389

Any Time Where Place

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Text on Button ANY TIME WHERE PLACE
Image Description

Bluce text encircled by red and white diamond border over yellowed background. 

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"Anytime, Anywhere, Any Place" is a phrase that relays unrestricted readiness, suggesting that the speaker is capable of action regardless of circumstances. One of the most notable origins of this phrase dates to World War II: in February 1944, after a training accident involving American airmen and British Chindits, General Orde Wingate reassured U.S. air commandos with the declaration: We will go with your boys any place, anytime, anywhere. This became a rallying cry—later shortened to "Anytime, Anyplace"—and the official motto of the 1st Special Operations Wing, symbolizing their unwavering commitment. Beyond the military, the phrase entered pop culture, including Joe Morris and His Orchestra’s 1950s R&B hit, sung by Laurie Tate, and has since become a common colloquialism wielded in spats of anger equating to challenging another to a duel. 

M.K. Brody Co., Inc. was a Chicago-based wholesale distributor, operating since 1911. Originally selling toys, it later shifted focus to balloons and party supplies, doing business as Brody’s Wholesale Balloons & Party Supplies. The company offered a wide variety of balloons, party accessories, and event supplies. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011 (The Wall Street Journal), it reportedly closed permanently.

Sources

Anderson, S. (2011). MK Brody Co since 1911 [post]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/swanksalot/5553650635

Estate Liquidation. (2025). I like to have it every day pin diamond border design M K Brody Chicago ILL 32mm [eBay listing]. eBay. https://ebay.us/m/EQLjjq

Library of Congress. (n.d.). China-Burma-India: WWII’s Forgotten Theater. LOC.gov. https://www.loc.gov/collections/veterans-history-project-collection/serving-our-voices/world-war-ii/china-burma-india/

National Security Agency [NSA]. (2021). The U.K. and the U.S. cooperated to bring victory in both fronts of World War II, in Europe and in the Pacific. National Security Agency/Central Security Service.https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/News-Highlights/Article/Article/2506339/the-uk-and-the-us-cooperated-to-bring-victory-in-both-fronts-of-world-war-ii-in/

ri_611286. (n.d.). Vintage “jazz and get fat” pin pinback button. Fat Tuesday MK Brody Chicago [eBay listing]. eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/306356671209

Stech, K. (2011). Bankruptcy deflates balloon distributor. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-BANKB-17502

Catalog ID IB0481

A Man You Can Lean On

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Text on Button A MAN YOU CAN LEAN ON
Image Description

White silhouette of a man leaning againtst white text on an orange background. 

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The leaning figure and slogan were part a 1960s advertising campaign for Klopman fabrics. Klopman began as Klopman Mills, an apparel fabric company, that later merged with Burlington Industries. After the merge, Burlington published multiple department store advertisements of leaning men and women to highlight the Klopman name. With this advertising campaign the company hoped to convey the message that their fabric was reliable, or "something you can lean on."

Catalog ID AD0373

100 Percent American

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Text on Button I AM 100% AMERICAN ARE YOU?
Image Description

White, blue, and black top hat encircled by blue outline with blue and white text over red background. 

Back Paper / Back Info

Printed & Manufactured
BY STEINER ENGRAVING & BADGE CO. 
804 Pine St. St. Louis.

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The jingoistic phrase on the button refers to a call to arms for the US's involvement in WWI.  A song, copyrighted in 1918, uses the same phrase.  In the song, there are obvious anti-German and anti-German speaking American undertones in lines such as "If in Kaiser Bill you trust, What's your business here with us."  

It was American policy to defame German-Americans and chastise German culture.  President Woodrow Wilson spoke out against the damage of hyphenated Americans, whose divided allegiances could not be clearly discerned.  The American Ambassador to Germany, James W. Gerard, had one of the most openly hostile view of German-Americans at the time.  He stated, after suggesting to "ship them back to the Fatherland," in a 1918 speech,"there is no animal that bites and kicks and squeals and scratches, that would bite and squeal and scratch equal to a fat German-American, if you commenced to tie him up and told him that he was on his way back to the Kaiser."  

The official policy led to actions ranging from interning German-Americans, to forcing them to take "loyalty tests," to the "expectation" that they would purchase war bonds.  German-Americans were the largest non-English speaking ethnic group in America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  The highest concentration of German-Americans was in the Midwest.

Catalog ID IB0433