The Incredible Hulk

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Text on Button THE INCREDIBLE HULK 1980 MARVEL COMICS GROUP ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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A drawing of the hulk and light/dark blue text with a light blue background.  

Curl Text Dalo Buttons & Emblem Co NYC 10010
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The Incredible Hulk is a Marvel superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby first appearing in 1962. Hulk, is the alter ego of scientist Bruce Banner. Experimenting with Gamma radiation an accident occurs causing Banner to transform into the Hulk when angered. The character has been studied by historians as a example of Cold War culture in media, and truly has been a pillar of the Marvel media empire having a number of comics, television series, movies, and crossovers. During the 1980s Hulk had his own comic line that was very popular in addition to being a member of The Defenders. The Defenders were a superhero group, with their own comic line, including Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor and, the Silver Surfer. 

At the time of this button the television series The Incredible Hulk  starring Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby was on the air. 

Catalog ID EN0067

No Problem Alf

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Text on Button No Problem! ALF
Image Description

A Photo of ALF with a white speech bubble on a blue background with black and red text.

Curl Text MADE IN USA TM © & 1986. ALIEN PROD. - ALL RIGHTS RESV. LIC. BY LTLG
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ALF was a popular television program on NBC which ran from 1986-1990. The title character is a friendly extraterrestrial life form that crashed landed in the garage of the Tanner family. The Tanners are a typical suburban middle-class family in San Fernando Valley, CA. The family names their guest "ALF" which stands for Alien Life Form. ALF is from the planet Melmac, he followed a ham radio which caused him to crash land on Earth. The Tanner family took him in as a member of their own family. ALF is a unrestrained, rambunctious character who constantly puts himself at the risk of getting discovered. 

Catalog ID EN0072

Vote Melmacian

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Text on Button Vote Melmacian! ALF FOR PRESIDENT
Image Description

Yellow text over a picture of ALF wearing a white shirt with a blue tie.

Curl Text ® © 1988 Alien Productions All Rights Reserved
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Gordon "ALF" Shumway is a fictional character from the 1980s TV series ALF. This button is advertising a joke political campaign attempting to elect ALF as president. He was born on the planet Melmac to parents Flo and Bob. ALF accidentally came to Hollywood when he crashed he spaceship. The name ALF stands for Alien Life Form, and he prefers it to Gordon.

A graduate of Melmac High School and major in software and pedestrian crossing, ALF held a number of positions before coming to Earth including Assistant Boxleitner, male model, Phlegm dealer, and orbit guard. At 245 years old (2012), he would be the oldest elected president. 

The ALF show was the first TV series presented in Dolby Surround sound and totaled 102 episodes. Over the years ALF has remained a piece of American culture having appeared on a number of shows, had his own Marvel comic, and played in Hollywood Squares. Its popularity won the show multiple awards including the People's Choice Award, the Kid's Choice Award and, The Young Artist Award. 

A website is still running for ALF's presidential campaign.

Catalog ID EN0069

Alf For President

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Text on Button Alf for President!
Image Description

A photo of Alf wearing a patriotic top hat with black and American flag- colored text. 

Curl Text Production 1987 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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ALF was a popular television program on NBC which ran from 1986-1990. The title character is a friendly extraterrestrial life form that crashed landed in the garage of the Tanner family. The Tanners are a typical suburban middle-class family in San Fernando Valley, CA. The family names their guest "ALF" which stands for Alien Life Form. ALF is from the planet Melmac, he followed a ham radio which caused him to crash land on Earth. The Tanner family took him in as a member of their own family. ALF is a unrestrained, rambunctious character who constantly puts himself at the risk of getting discovered. 

Catalog ID EN0071

Top Trader

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Text on Button TOP TRADER
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Black text over white background. 

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Catalog ID CL0085

Matchbox Collector Blue

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Text on Button MATCHBOX "MATCHBOX" Nº.1 Nº1 A MOKO LESNEY PRODUCT COLLECTOR
Image Description

An illustration of a car inside a yellow box. The yellow box has text inside it, red text on top and yellow/black text below. The yellow box is on a blue background with white text above and below the box. 

Curl Text MADE IN ENGLAND
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This button commemorates the Moko Lensey Matchbox collector.  The image on the button depicts the Moko Lensey first ever die cast toy, a “road roller,” in the Matchbox series.  The company made the toy between 1955 and 1957.  Moko Lensey was founded in 1948.  The unique name of the company is a portmanteau and made from a combination of its three earliest partners.  Moko is a shortening of Moses (Mo) Kohnstam (ko) and Lesney was a combination of Lesley Smith (Les) and Rodney Smith (ney).  By the early 1950s, the company began to use the less confusing name Matchbox.  The toy brand continues to be a leader among die cast toy manufacturers. 

Sources

Curtis, M. (2000). The Matchbox models from the pre-1969 era. Matchbox Community Hall.  Retrieved from http://www.mboxcommunity.com/Photoguide/Matchb1to75.htm.

Catalog ID CL0226

Jobber

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Text on Button Get It from Your Jobber
Image Description

Two hands shake within a black outlined red oval between red text over a yellow background. 

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A "jobber" is an informal term for a wholesaler. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this meaning dates from the mid-seventeenth century and may be used to refer to anyone buying and selling goods. In the North American context, the phrase, "Get it from your jobber," was often used in newspaper advertisements throughout the early twentieth century. The items advertised ranged from toilet tanks to car parts. The illustration seen on the button was trademarked by Indiana's Automotive Advertisers Council (AAC) in 1949 and by Canada's Smart & Biggar in 1950.

AAC was founded in 1941 and had offices throughout the America, including a branch in Chicago, Illinois and was once headquartered in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.  AAC changed its name in 1994 to the Automotive Communications Council and is currently headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.  

Sources

Jobber, n.2 [Def. 2]. (September 2014). OED Online, Retrieved September 22, 2014 from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/101405?isAdvanced=true&result=1&rskey=AO3…;

Canadian Intellectual Property Office. (September 2014). Canadian trade-mark Data, Retrieved September 22, 2014 from http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/trdmrks/srch/vwTrdmrk.do?lang=eng&fil…

Catalog ID CL0264

Contributor Dinosaur

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Text on Button CONTRIBUTOR
Image Description

Illustration of a stegosaurus under black text over green background.  

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New York. N.Y. 10036 Union Bug

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This is a button used to identify contributors who contributed money to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The American Museum of Natural History in New York City was established in 1869. This button may have been from the early 1900s, when the museum acquired many of their dinosaur fossils.

Sources

American Museum of Natural History. (2019). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Museum_of_Natural_H….

Catalog ID CL0061

Brought One Red

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Text on Button BROUGHT ONE
Image Description

White stretched text on red background. 

Back Paper / Back Info

W.H. Dietz Sunday School Supply Man No. 20 East Randolph St. Chicago.

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William H. Dietz was a manufacturer of Sunday School Goods in the 1920s. This is most likely a button indicating the wearer brought someone with them to Sunday School.

Catalog ID CL0219

Yellow Host

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Text on Button Host
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A man in a chef's costume holds a tray of food in each hand above his head.  Everything is set against a yelow blackground. 

Curl Text KEYNOTE BUTTON CO. 1170 BROADWAY NY.I
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Catalog ID AR0155