A red heart with black text all around it.Everything is set on a white background. 

This button was desgined by artist Dallegret Francois on the occasion of the exhibition Art by Telephone at the Museum Of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago. The exhibit was on view from November 1 through December 14, 1969.

Art by Telephone was a very conceptual exhibition and was considered controversial at the time. All of the works were intended to be temporary and were destroyed after the exhibition. Participating artists on the exhibition included Richard Artschwager, John Baldessari, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Claes Oldenburg, Richard Serra, and Robert Smithson.

Dallegret’s work from the exhibition was titled Hot Line/Soft Laser. It included a 30 foot long wire hung horizontally at eye level and plugged into a timer. The wire would be heated and turn red, expand, and sag at each interval, but as it resumed to room temperature, the wire would straighten and return to black. 

Red heart below blue text, under white text encircled by blue border over white background. 

"Kiss Me You Fool" was the name of a Slurpee flavor in the late 1960s. Slurpee is exclusively a 7-Eleven product that was introduced in the stores in 1965 after 7-Eleven made a deal with the ICEE company to sell the drink under a different name. The Slurpee was an instant success thanks to clever marketing strategies like psychedelic swirled cups and even a 45 RPM promotional record called, "Dance the Slurp."

The 7-Eleven franchise started in 1928, when Joe C. Thompson Jr. bought an ice plant and opened several storefronts selling items that were kept cold by the ice. Through the Great Depression, the stores fell on hard times, but rebounded in 1946 with the new operating hours, 7 am to 11 pm, and grew to 100 franchised locations by the 1950s. 

Black and red text on white background.

Sam Shaheen immigrated from Lebanon to Louisville, KY, and bought a dry goods business that by 1922 had grown into Shaheen’s Department Store. By the late 1950s, the store was specializing in school uniforms. Today, it services more than 300 schools in Kentucky, Indiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Tennessee.  There are three stores in the Louisville, KY area, all family owned and operated. The stores carry schoolwear, workwear and chefwear.

Red text in the shape of a heart over white background. 

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

White heart under red text over red background. 

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) was established in 1963 after the merger of the National Union of Public Employees and the National Union of Public Service Employees. Today, it is Canada’s largest union and comprised of over 700,000 members from the healthcare, education, social services, transportation, and airline industries. More than half of its members are women and a third are part-time workers.

Since its inception, CUPE has always had a progressive, forward-looking platform. It was instrumental in securing basic rights for public employees including the ability to strike and bargain collectively. It was also a fervent supporter of equal pay and same-sex marriage and outspoken critic of the Iraq invasion. CUPE made history when it elected feminist Grace Hartman as its president in 1975. Hartman represented the first woman to lead a national union in North America. Currently, CUPE is a powerful lobbying force and has seen some success in getting the Canadian government to adopt pro-union policies.

A red heart with white text inside it on a white background. 

Nu-Leth-R is a brand of customized desk calendars frequently sold by promotional product vendors such as Halo and Warwick Publishing. In addition to customizable imprints, Nu-Leth-R once offered additional features for their calendars, such as custom photograph prints and miniature thermometers.

a white heart with red text inside it and white text underneath it. Everything is set on a red background. 

This button was handed out by cable car drivers in 1975 to promote a friendlier image and to attract more ridership of the San Francisco's Municipal Railway, known as Muni. 

Muni has been in service for over a century, starting after the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. It is responsible for the municipal railway, the division of parking and traffic, taxis, buses, trolleys, the historic streetcars and SF's iconic cable cars. Curtis E Green, the deputy general manager from 1973 to 1982, who was the first African American to head a major U.S. transit system, ran the Muni in difficult times when the agency was transitioning from a rundown bus-oriented operation into a system centered around the subway Muni Metro; it was him who engineered the button publicity stunt.  

McDonald's logo and red heart above black text over white background. 

McDonald’s was founded in 1948 by Dick and Mac McDonald. The hamburger stand was located in San Bernardino, California. In 1955, Ray Kroc opened the first franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois. The building with its distinctive golden arches, which would become the logo for McDonald’s, was designed by architect Stanley Meston. By 1965, there were over 700 McDonald’s restaurants throughout the United States. The first McDonald’s outside of the United States opened in Richmond, British Colombia in 1967.

White lips and text over purple background. 

In the late 18th century, the expression "kiss me me quick" was used to reference a dance called Kiss Me Quick My Mother’s Coming. In the mid-nineteenth century, the phrase appeared again as a name for cosmetic products and perfumes. Around that same time, the it also became associated with a homemade quilted bonnet or a cap with ribbons that featured what were called “kissing-strings” to tie under the chin. 

It was not until the late 19th century and early 20th century that the phrase was popularized once again through African American folk songs and rockabilly music as a request for a kiss or an invitation to kiss someone quickly.

Beige heart with red and black text, illustration of a city skyline, and a red banner with beige text.  Black background with beige lines coming out from the heart.

The Kansas City Jubilesta was a musical event that took place in 1936 from September 26th through October 3rd. The Jubilesta was put on by Kansas City, MO as a fall festival intended to attract visitors to the city. The Jubilesta also acted as the official inauguration of Kansas City's new "6 1/2 Million Dollar" Municipal Auditorium.