White and yellow text on a red background

Factory outlet stores are a type of discount store, or a store than sells retail goods at a low price. Appliance Factory Outlet is a trademark of A&A Quality Appliance Inc, which is a Colorado-based household appliance retailer that serves customers in the United States.

The “free disposal” refers to a sales promotion incentivizing customers to buy a dishwasher by including an additional item of value with purchase. The disposal may refer to a device called a waste disposal unit or garburator device that is commonly installed on kitchen sinks to pulverize solid food waste. Or, it may refer to the service some appliance stores provide of disposing of non-working appliances at the time of installing a replacement. In either case, it is an example of commercial approaches to systematizing solid-waste management and the marketing of refuse disposal goods and services.

White lowercase looping text on a black background.

The slang term ‘nerd’ has uncertain origins, but several different theories exist. Its first printed appearance was in 1950 in Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran the Zoo, and is used depicting an odd and serious-looking creature. It is possible that Dr. Seuss made this word up, but it could be that he derived it from Mortimer Snerd, a popular ventriloquist’s dummy invented by Edgar Bergen. Snerd was a country bumpkin with a tiresome and dull personality. 

Black and white illustration of a bat hanging upside down with white letters on a black background below.

A maximum wage is an established rate, set either by collective bargaining or law, that specifies the highest allowable amount of pay for labor.

In the United States, there is a federal minimum wage, or lowest rate at which employers can compensate employees for labor. There is no federal maximum wage, however. Calls for a federal maximum wage, or a “de facto” maximum wage, where tax policy imposes a limit on how much income can be taken in, go at least as far back as the turn of the 20th century. Proponents of a maximum wage cite that the advantage of maximum wage legislation is in its efficacy in addressing extreme differentials in income distribution and inequitable stratification of wealth.

Fanged bats in folklore are often symbols of blood-sucking. The image on the button may be an allusion to economic vampirism, an exploitative practice in which one party predatorily drains resources without recompense, with the implication that unchecked wealth imposes a drain on a vital economy.

Black text on a pink background. An illustrated black bra with pink text and a cause ribbon highlights the word "support".

Since 1998, annual Avon Walks for Breast Cancer are community fundraising events that have been put on by the Avon Foundation, a charity run by global cosmetics corporation Avon Cosmetics. The foundation’s mission is to address problems that particularly, although not exclusively, affect women including breast cancer and domestic violence. Breast cancer is currently the second most common cancer in women after skin cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, a non-profit that tracks breast cancer, there are about 4 million breast cancer survivors in the United States, and current projections show that women have a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime.

Breast walks take place in various locales, and bring together breast cancer survivors, their loved ones, and other affected parties in community. Participants walk together along a set course, often wearing pink clothes, accessories, or ribbons to indicate their cause. Events sometimes include ceremonial speeches and generate publicity for the cause in local media. The money raised by Avon goes to cancer research and clinical practices, with an emphasis on regular mammograms, clinical breast exams and a continuing search for a breast cancer cure.

Color photograph of Marilyn Morales on a light blue background with dark blue and black text and blue lines below

Marilyn Morales ran for Chicago City Clerk in the 2011 election. The City Clerk position is the second highest ranking office in the city, responsible for not only maintaining official records of city government, but also issuing various city licenses and permits. At the time, Morales would have been the highest-ranking gay person and the first Latina to hold the position. However, she fell short of the required 12,500 signatures by the November deadline. Despite this, Morales was grateful for all the support she received, and proud of how far she came from her grassroots origins.

Morales was born and raised in Chicago and has over 20 years public service experience, having worked for the Illinois Department of Human Rights, as operations manager for the Chicago Park District, and on the Advisory Board at the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture. She vowed to continue her public service. 

White background with black text and purple and red ribbons attached to the bottom. In the center is a black and white photograph of a horse.

The New York State Fair in Syracuse is a 13-day celebration featuring a wide variety of attractions including concerts, amusement rides, exhibitions and events, food and drinks, and competitions. The fair occurs every year from late August until Labor Day. It is the oldest state fair in the United States, having first taken place in 1841. It is also one of the largest, drawing over one million visitors annually.

The fair’s largest attractions are its animal, horticulture, and agricultural displays. Thousands of animals are exhibited including dairy cattle, pigs, goats, rabbits, and horses. A large collection of antique tractors celebrates New York’s agricultural heritage. The fair even hosts an annual Butter Sculpture, in which hundreds of pounds of butter are transformed into art. A main goal of the fair is to promote the importance of New York’s agriculture and home-grown products and foods.

White background with green and black text. To the left of the text is an illustration of black silhouetted figures in front of a green swirl.

PrideFest is part of a history of LGBTQ+ community organizing in St. Louis. Before the first PrideFest in 1980, some St. Louis LGBTQ+ community events included motorcycle club events, gay parades, drag and review performances and pageants, transgender networking and support groups, balls and dances, lesbian alliance events, gay rights rallies, weekend get-togethers, neighborhood Halloween celebrations, and delegations at national marches.

Green starburst background with a yellow starburst swoop and red, blue, white, and black text

Northwestern Central Dupage Hospital has provided acute medical care services to Chicagoans for over 50 years. In 2010, the hospital earned Magnet recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for excellence in nursing.

In the center is a color photograph of a Black man in a dress United States Army uniform. The photograph is surrounded by white text on a black background.

This button celebrates the retirement of Joe Shakeenab from the United States military in 2010. Since retirement from military life, Shakeenab built a second career as a private leadership consultant, city councilman for Clarksville, Tennessee, community organization committee member and president of the Austin Peay State University alumni center. He also wrote two books: one about working for a US military service operation in Somalia in the 1990s, and the other a book of poetry "illustrating the phases (physical – moral – spiritual) of my fatherless life which I have grown to understand."

Multicolored graffiti-style text on a black background

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice based on the character of Joseph from the book of Genesis in the Bible. The musical came to development when Webber’s longtime friend, Alan Doggett, a musical teacher at Colet Court school in London, commissioned Webber and Rice to write a 15-minute pop cantata for the school's choir. On March 1, 1968 the students of the Colet Court school performed the first iteration of the musical which was met by a standing ovation and the offer of a deal by music publishers Novello and Co.

More than half a century and many productions later, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat continues to be appreciated by crowds of varying demographics, delivering the story of Joseph in a captivating and entertaining way.