Keep Your Eye on Chevrolet

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Text on Button KEEP YOUR EYE ON CHEVROLET
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An illustration of a person with a round face is smiling and winking. The text is white and the background is blue.

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GERAGHTY & COMPANY 3035-37 W. LAKE ST. CHICAGO, U.S.A. is stamped on the back. A "G" symbol and two different union symbols are printed in the center. One union is the Chicago Local No. 4 and the other is for Union Label.

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Under the guidance of William Knudsen, the president of Chevrolet from 1924 to 1937, the company rushed the release of a new line of cars called the Chevrolet 6. Locked in a competitive sales race with his fellow captains of the automotive industry, Henry Ford and Walter Chrysler, Knudsen updated the ‘32 line to include more cylinders than the company’s previous models. He had the new line manufactured and placed on the market faster than his competitors, who were also adding more cylinders to their new cars. 

The speedy production of the ‘32 line was paired with an aggressive marketing campaign that touted the slogan, “Keep Your Eye on Chevrolet.” The company commissioned the production of 168 radio spots, 5,355 newspaper ads, and 25,000 posters that equalled 118 miles in length featuring this slogan. Chevrolet's blitz campaign, along with their quick production turnaround, was a massive success until Ford announced the production of the Ford V-8.

Sources

Kimes, B. R., & Ackerson, R. C. (1986). In Chevrolet: A history from 1911. Automobile Quarterly, Inc.

Catalog ID AD0323

Keebler Elves

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Text on Button Keebler I believe in Elves
Image Description

A red image of a tree with Keebler logo inside of a border with red text below. The background is white.

Curl Text PROM. SERV. INC. Chicago, IL. 312/763-8811
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The Keebler elves are a cartoon animated family of elf bakers that were created in 1968 by the advertising agency, Leo Burnett Worldwide.  The elves are led by Ernie Keebler and bake snacks (cookies, biscuits, and crackers) in a Hollow Tree. The Keebler bakery was founded by Godfrey Keebler in 1853. The Keebler brand was acquired by the Kellogg Company in 2001.

Catalog ID AD0295

KAET TV

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Text on Button TURN US ON 8 KAET-TV
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Large centered "8" with text as the border. The text is orange and the background is yellow.

Curl Text AIMCO
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KAET, channel 8, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television station located in Phoenix, Arizona.  Its first day of broadcasting was on January 30, 1961, from the campus of Arizona State University. It averages more than a million viewers each week, and ranks among the top viewed PBS stations.

Catalog ID AD0288

Dan McCarthy Taking

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Illustration of a black tree with spiraling branches, black leaves, and red berries. There is a black skeleton forming the roots of the tree and two white rabbits eating from the green grass below the tree. The background is a blue sky.

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The image on this button, which explores the cyclical nature of life and death, began its life in 2004 as an oil painting named Taking. The artist, Dan McCarthy of Pocassett, Massachusetts, created a five color screen print of Taking the following year, which eventually lead to the creation of this button. In addition to themes of life, death, and rebirth, McCarthy’s work also explores the relationship between nature and technology. A man of multiple talents, McCarthy is both a visual artist (working in design, screen printing, drawing, and painting) and a musician.

Catalog ID AR0133

Fleers Dubble Bubble Gum Junior Salesmen's Club

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Text on Button JUNIOR SALESMEN'S CLUB FLEERS DUBBLE BUBBLE GUM
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The middle of the button contains an illustration of a red, white, and blue wrapped piece of bubble gum with arms, legs, and a face on a blue background. Around this is red text on a white background.

Curl Text PHILADELPHIA BADGE CO. PHILA. PA
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Dubble Bubble is a brand of pink-colored bubble gum invented in 1928 by Walter Diemer, who worked at Fleer Chewing Gum Company. Fleer Chewing Gum Company, based in Philadelphia, had been searching for years to produce a formula that allowed bubbles to be blown that did not stick. In 1928, Walter Diemer was testing new gum recipes, he noticed that his product was less sticky than regular chewing gum, and after testing it he found that he could create bubbles easily. After a year of attempts he made the first successful batch of bubble gum. But the next morning when trying to recreate his successful concoction, he failed to reproduce the same results. After four months of trying to mimic his first success he finally made a 300 pound batch of what would become Dubble Bubble. The only food coloring available at the factory was pink, so Diemer had no choice but to use it, and the color would go on to become the standard for gum.

Catalog ID CL0216

Jockey Underwear

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Text on Button A BRIEF HISTORY THE JOCKEY UNDERWEAR STORY
Image Description

An illustration of a man wearing jockey brief underwear is standing, smiling, and waving his left hand. The "A BRIEF HISTORY" text is red with a black border. The other text is black and the background is white.

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“A Brief History: The Jockey Underwear Story” was an exhibit on display at the Chicago Historical Society between October 1993 and January 1994.  The exhibit included undergarments and promotional materials spanning over 100 years.  Among the subjects covered in the exhibit was the development of the elastic waistband.  Jockey’s elastic-band brief debuted at Marshall Fields on January 19, 1935. 

Sources

A brief history. (1993, October 02). The Journal Times. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from http://journaltimes.com/news/a-brief-history/article_f3b89fea-1a20-550c…

Catalog ID AD0320

Nick Cave Sequin Mask

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An image of a red, yellow, orange, and silver jeweled mask on a person's face. The lips and eyes are the only visible areas of the person. The background is a sky blue and the border around the button is red.

Curl Text SOUNDSUITSHOP.COM 2011 MASK BUTTON
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This is a button featuring a sequin mask from Nick Cave's art exhibit, "Nick Cave: Meet me at the Center of the Earth." This was the first museum tour for the Chicago based artist; it started at the Seattle Art Museum March 10th, 2011. The exhibit included 50 soundsuits (wearable sculptures) made out of recycled materials, mixing the imaginary with reality and high fashion with African ceremony. The suits were put on display through dance and sound; dance performance artists wore them during the exhibit. 

Catalog ID AR0107

Jesse Ledoux Stinky

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Illustration of a person's white nose and black open mouth with a small mustache. The large nose is inhaling a green vapor or smell. There are blue tears coming from the eyes and the background is peach.

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This button was created as part of the Busy Beaver Button Co.'s Button-O-Matic 2004 series "stinky, scary or hairy". It included three buttons by Jesse Ledoux including this one for "stinky".

Jesse Ledoux is an art director who does album cover and posters and is the owner of the LeDouxville, a company that sells designs. He originally worked for Sub Pop Records and has won several awards for his artwork. 

Catalog ID AR0131

Basil Wolverton Jay Walker

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Text on Button JAY WALKER
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Illustration of the back of a nude person with their neck and head coming out of their back, with white text above and below on a redish-purple background.

Curl Text Made in Japan
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This button is from the 1965 series of LEAF "Fink Buttons" illustrated by popular Mid-Century artist Basil Wolverton. Perhaps best known for his work at MAD Magazine, Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978) was an American cartoonist and illustrator famous for his humorously grotesque drawings. Wolverton worked in the "Golden Age" of comic books doing features like "Powerhouse Pepper" and "Spacehawk" in the 1940s. A 2009 New York Times article states that Wolverton’s drawings embodied the “sick-and-proud humor” of MAD magazine and were considered a “virtuoso exercise in bad taste, made all the weirder for being so meticulously executed."

Catalog ID AR0185

Jagermeister

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Text on Button Jagermeister Liqueur ... so smooth
Image Description

An illustration of a man wearing a white blazer and a shirt with the Jagermeister symbol on it holding a shot in his left hand. The "Jagermeister Liqueur" text is black and the "... so smooth" text is orange. The background is white.

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Jägermeister is a German alcohol made with 56 herbs and spices. It is the flagship product of Mast-Jägermeister SE, headquartered in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. Sidney Frank, known for his creation of Grey Goose vodka, spotted German immigrants in New York drinking Jagermeister in the 1970s, and purchased the U.S. import rights. Sales were poor until some students were quoted in a Baton Rouge Atlantic article suggesting the drink was an aphrodisiac. Frank jumped on the story, and assembled a team to hand out copies of the article and ran some memorable billboard ads that played on its strong flavor. Frank’s promotional tactics worked. A drink that was once used as a field anesthetic by doctors in World War II, had become popular among party goers and bar hoppers alike.

Catalog ID AD0325