An illustration of a cartoon boy wearing a black coat and a black and yellow stocking cap. There are dots of snow surrounding him and he is attempting to catch some with his right hand. The "THINK SNOW" text is is in bubble lettering on the top and the "SKI-DOO" text is on the bottom across the boy's chest. The font is yellow with a black border and the background is white.

Ski-Doo is a snowmobile manufacturing company that was founded in 1959. It produce a wide variety of models for different terrain and speed.  Ski-Doo is a subsidiary of Bombardier Inc, which is a Canadian aerospace and transportation company.  The verb "skidooing" is sometimes used to describe going on a snowmobile ride.

Green text on a white background. The size of the text decreases from top to bottom.

In 1972, the Hotel St. Francis in San Francisco opened a new addition to its hotel, a futuristic tower. Atop the tower was the Penthouse which featured cocktails and nightly dancing. Along with the view, the Penthouse offered the the “happiest of happy hours” and complimentary hors d’oeuvres. The Penthouse boasted new music and a new atmosphere stating, “If you’re looking for Lawrence Welk, keep looking. Because the way Sweetgrass plays Top 40’s will make your feet boogie and your ears feel great. So come up and get high with us. Every night. No minimum. No cover. Just turned on fun."

An illustration of a red and white striped barber's pole with black text forming a border. The background is white.

The Barber Shoppe is a hair salon located in the Greater London area. They specialize in traditional and modern gentleman's hair styling.

Black and white illustration of a person walking awy with a knife in their back on a background with the top half pink and the button half blue and white text with a black outline above the image.

To "stab someone in the back" is a phrase that visualizes betrayal when one least expects it, typically by a close friend. The expression was first coined in 1916 by the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw in an essay for the New York Times magazine. 

Black text on dark orange background. 

This button is made in commemoration of a dinner held by the Tariff Club in 1908.  The Tariff Club was a large organization and a wing of the Republican Party. The faction focused heavily on tariff reform - an key issue in the turn of the century political science. As a whole the club heavily supported the presidency of William Howard Taft and his 1908 campaign as well as the Theodore Roosevelt years

In the early part of the twentieth century party lines were split among tariffs. Democrats, fearing the rise of corporate trusts, pushed for lowered tariffs. Republicans sought to keep tariffs high in order to allow companies to compete financially on the world market. In 1908 Taft actually pushed to lowered tariffs dramatically to bring about political unity through compromise. This compromise and lowering of over 600 tariffs is part of which caused Theodore Roosevelt to form his own political party, "The Bull-Moose Party" and run for the presidency in 1912.

Red text centered around black text arched along the top and bottom. The background is white.

Taco Bell is an American fast food restaurant that was founded by Glen Bell in 1962. Bell started his career in restaurants in 1946 in San Bernardino, CA, in a hot dog stand. The Taco Bell chain of restaurants began to spread and the 100^th store was opened in 1967. PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell from Glen in 1978 and the chain continued to grow. The Taco Bell Grande was introduced to the Taco Bell menu in the 1980s. The taco was a larger version of the taco supreme. The Taco Bell Grande is no longer a menu item. The fast food chain today serves 2 billion customers every year. Most of the restaurants are in the United States, but there are some global locations in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Greece.

Blue text is centered on the button with an parabolic line to the right. Black text circles around the button and there is a black line as the border. The background is pink.

This is a button celebrating the installation of Lawrence Weiner's "Brought to Light Subsequently Allowed to Dissipate" mural and artwork in the  Rutter Center building on The University of Southern California's San Francisco campus. The mural is a glowing pink light with a broken arc and the phrase, "Brought to Light" in blue letters. The work is complimented by three steel discs of different diameters inside the plaza next to the building.

A green illustration of a streaking man on a white background encircled by green text and a green border. 

The term “streaking” was first used in 1973 and was coined during a mass nude run at the university of Maryland. Though the act of streaking had been popular since the mid-1960's, the name streaking had not emerged as the favorite term immediately. Streaking is different than nudism and flashing because streaking is to draw attention and be noticed by an audience, not as a lifestyle or to shock a victim. Streaking hit its prime in 1974 as there were thousands of streaking events took place and there was in influx of novelty created such as buttons, patches, t-shirts, etc. to cash in on the fad. March of 1974 also saw what is still considered the largest streaking event on record; 1543 people streaked at the University of Georgia as they stripped down and went for a jog.

Read more about the History of Streaking Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Illustration of a hand close-up, holding onto a subway strap with subway car windows in the background. White ring around outer edge of the button with red text.

The Strap Hangers League was started in Chicago by streetcar passengers around the year 1903. An article in the San Francisco Call, on March 5, 1903, explains that a few men initially created the league as a joke. The men wanted to start a movement for all fare-paying customers to have a seat on the streetcars. Although initially a joke the league quickly grew in members and spread to other cities such as New York. Buttons were created throughout the life of the league so that league members could demonstrate their membership. It appears that later on in the history of the league the membership was concerned with receiving better services. A small advertisement in The News of Des Moines, Iowa, on July 21, 1920, explained that the United Strap Hangers of Toledo were selling buttons to raise funds for better services on streetcars. 

An illustration of two clamps and a combination square cream in color. The text is cream and the background is red.

Starrett Tools was founded in 1880, in Athol, Massachusetts, by Laroy S. Starrett after he invented the Combination Square (1877) and he needed a company to manufacture it. The company makes a line of precision measuring tools including micrometers, and calipers. The company also makes other tools including levels, electronic gages, and a variety of custom engineered products. In addition to their measurement tools, the company manufactures saws and power tools. Starrett Tools employs around 1800 people worldwide and their tools continue to be used by various manufactures and companies. Their products are synonymous with quality and the company continues to be successful and respected by its customers. Starrett also maintains a blog where people can go and read about products, new and old, with anecdotal information and videos.