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.

3/4 of the button is blue and the bottom 1/4 is red. In the blue portion there is a upward facing red rocket ship.

This button is a piece of merchandise that ties in the the popular 1950s television show Space Patrol. The show began in 1950 and ran for a little over five season. By the end of Space Patrol's run it was constantly ranked in the top ten television shows of the time. The show was so popular that ABC aired a weekly 30 minute program and lesser local stations aired 15 minute programs either daily or weekly. 

Since it appealed to such a wide audience and  fell in the science fiction genre, it was the first large experiment with a 3-D television broadcast. While the show had overtones of Cold War ideology, it set the stage for future shows such as Star Trek and is considered an innovator in the genre. Being largely popular among younger generations, kids could become members of the Space Patrol Club, and proudly wear the button shown here. 

A crossword puzzle with eleven word options and only one down is completed. The text colors are black, the word spaces are grey, and the background is white.

Columbia Records, an American recording label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, is the oldest brand name in recorded sound.  Founded in 1887, they were the first record company to produce recorded records as opposed to blank phonograph cylinders.  Colombia Records is one of Sony Music’s three flagship record labels along with Epic Records and RCA Records.

Encircled photograph of a man next to a radio microphone with the letters WMCA on it with a white outer edge with brown text in it.

Radio station WMCA began AM broadcasting in NYC around 1925. Typical programming of the day included music news, drama and variety shows, promotions and, of course, advertising. The radio, considered by some as the Internet of the 30s, was an important communication tool in America. In 1930 forty percent of all households owned one - by 1940 that number more than doubled.  

Black and white photograph of Walter Schoeneck in the center with two oval-shaped images on each side (a little girl on the left and a little boy on the right) on a yellow background. Black text is on the top and lower portions with red capitalized text in the center just beneath the images.

A Chicago company, Sinbac Shoes, sponsored a children’s radio program where Walter Schoeneck, known as “Uncle Bob Wilson”, would read bedtime stories and sing children's songs. He was also president of the Sinbac Radio Club. Mr. Schoeneck passed away in 1936.