Yeah! What's The Difference!

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Text on Button YEAH! WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE! MADE IN CHINA
Image Description

Green background with an illustration of a man with red face, red hair, exaggerated teeth and eyes standing next to a chalkboard holding chalk. The main text is in a speech bubble, with the manufacturer location in small letters on the bottom.

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Designs like the one seen on this button became popular as gum ball machine prizes beginning in the early 1970s, with many labeled as being manufactured in China and/or Hong Kong. Gum ball prizes, including humorous pinback buttons, were popular throughout the 20th century. Machines originally intended for distributing round candies became commonly used along with small round capsules to distribute tiny toys to friendly passersby.

The 1970s marked a shift in trade relations between the United States and China, opening up new markets from east to west. Toy manufacturing in China had hit an all time high in the late 1970s, establishing the region as a hub for all manner of trinkets and children’s playthings. "Made in China" labels soon became common in households and on buttons and toys across the United States. 

Sources

Candy Machines. (n.d.). History of the gumball machine. https://www.candymachines.com/History-of-the-Gumball-Machine.aspx

Chau, A. (2021). Hidden Hong Kong: A history of “Made in Hong Kong” toys. Localiiz: My life in Hong Kong. https://www.localiiz.com/post/culture-history-toys-made-in-hong-kong

Good Luxe Vintage. (2024). Vintage pinback buttons – 60s 70s misc. novelty pins – you choose – genuine vintage … [auction listing]. ATTIC. https://attic.city/item/AbyK/vintage-pinback-buttons-60s-70s-misc.-novelty-pins-you-choose-genuine-vintage-pin-button-/good-luxe-vintage

Good Times Shoppe. (n.d.). Vintage 1970’s Yeah! What’s the difference comic funny 1.6” pinback button pin [eBay listing]. eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/205545544203

Griz 1992. (n.d.). Yeah! What’s the difference! Teacher chalk vintage pinback/button/badge 1.75” [eBay listing]. eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/365331335828

Halder, S. (n.d.). Antique gumball machine: history, manufacturers, and value. Valuable Antique Detector. https://www.txantiquemall.com/antique-gumball-machine/

Nice Things Emporium. (n.d.). Lot vintages 12 pinback buttons alien cowboy teacher spider humor sarcasm 70s [eBay listing]. eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/256541255996

Rosalsky, G. (2024). How we got to ‘Made in China’. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2024/04/02/1228739124/how-we-got-to-made-in-china

Wong, J. D. (2023). Made in Hong Kong: Deriving value from the place-of-origin label, 1950s and now. Modern Asian Studies 57(3), 895–917. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/made-in-hong-kong-deriving-value-from-the-placeoforigin-label-1950s-and-now/10F7B98B3F772990671D30524D295ED4

Young, C. K. (2023). Hong Kong – A living history of the toy business. Global Toy News. https://globaltoynews.com/2023/03/01/hong-kong-a-living-history-of-the-toy-business/


 

Catalog ID IB0776

Scratch™

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Text on Button SCRATCH™
Image Description

Illustration of a brown hairy blob character with a single brown antena and green hands, feet, and nose on a blue background. Text is black on a red background in an arch shape above the illustration.

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Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Catalog ID IB0777

Private Property Alternate Version

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Text on Button PRIVATE PROPERTY KEEP OUT MADE IN CHINA
Image Description

An illustration of a bulldog on a blue background with white text on the bottom of the button. The dog is holding a sign with red text on a yellow background. Manufacturer location is printed on the bottom of the button in black text.

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Bulldogs are depicted as bullies or mean guard dogs in the media. These tropes dominated in 1940s via cartoons by Warner and MGM. Animators exaggerated a bulldog's snout, teeth to look like tusks, and jowls. Bulldogs are not naturally vicious as media perpetuates. This reputation stems from when they were trained to fight bulls for bullbaiting, an English sport, from 13th century through early 19th century. The term "bulldog" originates from the aforementioned sport.

This popular dog breed are typically easygoing, courageous, and friendly. They represent sports teams as a mascot of 39 American universities and as a symbol of England. The first animal mascot in any sport was Handsome Dan, a bulldog, at Yale University. The British used to call English Bulldogs, "Churchill Dogs", because they both emulated England's strength and courage. However, Prime Minister Winston Churchill did not own any bulldogs personally. Two American presidents owned bulldogs, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. Harding's dog, Oh Boy, received the title "First Dog" since he lived with his owner at the White House.

This is an alternate version of HU0093.

Sources

American Kennel Club. (n.d.). Bulldog dog breed information. https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/bulldog/

Bully bulldog. (2021, March 30). In TV Tropes. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BullyBulldog

Ripley, K. (2016, August 11). 9 things you didn’t know about the bulldog. American Kennel Club. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/9-things-you-didnt-know-abo…

Catalog ID HU0217

IWH 8:44 A.M. Wonder Woman

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Text on Button IWH 8:44 A.M.
Image Description

Gold background with black text on the top and bottom. A solid-black logo is in the center designed to emulate the Wonder Woman logo. The logo consists of a large W with three lines stylized as wings on either side and a stylized bird with a crown on the top of the center peak of the W.

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Catalog ID EN0612

UoP Rx Movember Movement 2010

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Text on Button UoP Rx Movember Movement 2010
Image Description

Black text on a white background with an illustration of three pill bottles with mustaches.

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The mustache has a long history, falling in and out of fashion throughout the decades. By the early 2000s, the mustache had lost popularity, but in 2003, two friends in Australia decided to bring it back, enlisting 30 men to join them in growing mustaches. Thus Movember was born. Movember occurs every November, where mustaches are grown around the world to bring awareness to men’s health issues. In recent years, over 5 million people have participated in the month long event, and the Movember Foundation has helped fund over 1,200 men’s health projects. 

The global reach of mustache day demonstrates the mustache’s continuing prevalence in society. Mustache day is celebrated in a variety of ways around the world, including national and international holidays for both natural and fake mustaches. In the United States, Oakland, California's Mustache day began on June 18, 1972, when Oakland A’s owner Charles Finley paid coaches and players a $300 bonus to grow out their mustaches and allowed all fans with mustaches into the park for free that day. Another notable publication of group mustache day is commercial corporation Jellyvision's 2007 mustache celebration in Chicago.

Sources

Hawksley, L. (2014). Culture-the Mustache: a Hairy History. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140703-the-moustache-a-hairy-history

Catalog ID EV0951

30 Like Me

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Text on Button 30 like Me!
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White, gray, and yellow text on a blue background.

Curl Text 2011 WIN Business Conference Newport Beach, CA
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WIN Home Inspection (WIN) is a home inspection business franchise network started in 1993 in Seattle, Washington. The 2011 annual WIN Home Inspection Business Conference was hosted in Newport Beach, California by the WIN Home Inspection South Sound franchise. These buttons were produced for the event, presumably as ice-breakers to facilitate networking between conference attendees.

Sources

WIN Home Inspection South Sound. (2011, January 16). 2011 WIN Conference Highlights [Streaming video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha-sQaMkqzM

Catalog ID EV0950

I'm a Meetles Fan

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Text on Button I'm a MEETLES Fan
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White, red, and black text on a black background with yellow, orange, blue, green, and red circles behind the text of the band's name.

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The Meetles are a Classic Rock tribute band based in New York City. Founded in 2007 out of a Beatles Meetup group, the Meetles not only pay tribute to the legendary rock band, but all Classic Rock from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. They are most often found playing underground for Music Under New York (MUNY), but also play aboveground in Central Park during the summer. The band members include Naomi and Eric Paulin, Eric Gordon, Rob Golterman, and Barry Blitstein. They are often joined by guest musicians, including Ringo Starr’s producer Mark Hudson. The Meetles are widely lauded to be “New York's most fun Beatles tribute band."

Sources

The meetles (n.d.). MTA. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://new.mta.info/agency/arts-design/collection/meetles

The meetles (n.d.). The Bash. Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.thebash.com/classic-rock-band/meetles

Catalog ID MU0537

E-2 Tragedy

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Text on Button E-2 I SUPPORT A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OF THE E-2 TRAGEDY
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Photograph of a young Black man with white and blue text surrounding

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On February 17, 2003 tragedy struck club dancers in Chicago when a bouncer pepper-sprayed a group of fighting patrons in the overcrowded E-2 nightclub. The result was a panic-driven stampede that left 21 people dead and more than 50 injured. Initial legal investigation of the events leading up to the tragedy was handled at the city-level and focused on the liability of the club owners in the deaths. Club owners had been repeatedly advised by the city that the building was not up to code and kept in business without addressing health and safety violations, notably failing to set safe occupancy limits and, in some accounts, failing to provide patrons with access to emergency exits. The training of club bouncers was also investigated, and local leaders were quoted drawing attention to the quality of training for emergency responders. Chicagoans continued to be critical of the results of the city-level investigation in its aftermath. Surviving family of the deceased were quoted as expressing a lack of closure in their grief. This button reflects the calls for a Federal investigation that emerged from the local tragedy.

Sources

Encyclopædia Britannica. (n.d.). Building code. Britannica Academic. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://academic-eb-com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/levels/collegiate/…

"Bouncer describes E2 crowd: Guard says he used pepper spray in fight." Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL). Tribune. 2007. Retrieved November 02, 2012 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-158179926.html. Site access Jan 27 2023 via Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20121102203212/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/…

"E2 Stampede Remembered Six Years Later" NBC Chicago. (Chicago, IL). NBC Chicago. 2009. Retrieved January 27,2023 from NBC Chicago: https://www.nbcchicago.com/local/e2_stampede_remembered_six_years_later…

"E2 owners say they were scapegoats for 'botched rescue effort'" Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL). Tribune. 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2023 from Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2011-11-17-chi-e2-nightclub-…

"The E2 stampede: 21 deaths, 500 hours" Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL). Tribune. 2015. Retrieved January 27,2023 from Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/editorials/ct-e2-nightclub-stamp…

"E2 owners get probation, not prison, in resentencing after fatal 2003 stampede" Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL). Tribune. 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2023 from Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-e2-tragedy-sentencing-m…

Catalog ID CA0885

Put Orange in Your OR

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Text on Button Put ORange in Your OR
Image Description

Two photographs of hands holding the advertised medical tool divide the button in half vertically. Orange and white lettering is on the top and bottom with an orange and white "+" sign in the middle overlaying the photographs.

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“Put Orange in your OR” was an advertisement slogan of CareFusion, a San Diego-based business that designed and manufactured devices for medical use. The slogan markets electric hair clippers and a skin preparation cream called ChloraPrep Hi-Lite Orange that the company once manufactured and sold to hospitals for use in pre-surgical hair removal. Hair removal is not frequently called for or practiced by surgery teams according to medical guidelines for infection prevention. However, hair is removed as part of medical treatment when the hair presents a physical barrier to surgery. Clippers are used for this rather than close-shaving razors that can break the skin and raise the risk of post-surgical infection.

Sources

BD (2023). BD: A History of Innovation. About BD. https://www.bd.com/en-us/about-bd/our-company#accordion-7e82f4b0fa-item…

OR Manager (2011, January). OR Manager, 27(1). https://www.ormanager.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/January-2011.pdf

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2016). Surgical site infections: prevention and treatment (NG125) https://www-clinicalkey-com.ezproxy3.library.arizona.edu/#!/content/nic…

Catalog ID AD1053