Hippy Sippy Says Love

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Text on Button hippy sippy says Love
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Smaller black text arching over larger bubbled text on a pink background. The "L" is blue, the "o" is orange and red, the "v" is red, and the "e" is orange and red.

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Hippy Sippy was a Japanese candy produced in the late 1960s and imported into the United States by R.J. Albert & Sons. The packaging was shaped like a syringe and the candy resembled brightly colored pills. The candy played on the popular hippy and drug culture happening in the United States at the time, and each package came with a button that typically stated "hippy sippy says" and then another phrase alluding to drug usage slang such as "I'll try anything". The FDA ultimately recalled the candy in 1969 because of the controversy surrounding the drug paraphernalia inspired packaging.

Catalog ID AD0341

Hippy Sippy Lives

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Text on Button hippy sippy says HIPPY SIPPY LIVES
Image Description

Lowercase black text along top edge with uppercase black text below on an blue background.

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Hippy Sippy was a Japanese candy produced in the late 1960s and imported into the United States by R.J. Albert & Sons. The packaging was shaped like a syringe and the candy resembled brightly colored pills. The candy played on the popular hippy and drug culture happening in the United States at the time, and each package came with a button that typically stated "hippy sippy says" and then another phrase alluding to drug usage slang such as "I'll try anything". The FDA ultimately recalled the candy in 1969 because of the controversy surrounding the drug paraphernalia inspired packaging.

Catalog ID AD0340

Hillshire Farm And Natural Light Beer

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Text on Button TEAM UP WITH... Hillshire Farm AND Natural Light BEER
Image Description

Illustration of two people on a horse drawn carriage with three trees in the background. The text is blue on a white background, and there are baseball stitches forming a border. The "Hillshire Farm" text and the trees are framed to resemble a billboard.

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Hillshire Farms is a corporation that manufacturers sausages and other processed meats. Natural Light Beer, also known as "Natty Beer", is a beer that is produced by Anheuser-Busch. The two could easily be pared together as part of a recipe or barbeque.

Catalog ID BE0076

Evinrude

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Text on Button HI MATE EVINRUDE
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Dark blue text on white background. 

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This button was produced in the 1960s along with other pinbacks that included 'friendly phrases' such as "I Like Fun...With An Evinrude". The 'Evinrude company' has primarily produced outboard motors since roughly 1909. Ole Evinrude, a Norwegian immigrant born in 1877, was a consummate machinist. After producing his first functional outboard motor in 1909 his wife Bess saw profit in advertising. The first campaign for the Evinrude's would read: "Don't Row! Throw Away Those Oars! Use an Evinrude Motor!". The original 62 pound, $62 motors sold so well that Evinrude collaborated with other builders to found the Outboard Motors Corp. (OMC) in 1929. Ole Evinrude, the active president, passed away in 1934. 

The company that produced outboard motors bearing his namesake lasted until 2000, wherein the company filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by Bombadeier Recreational Products (BRP). Ole Evinrude is still honored today at the annual New York boatshow with the Ole Evinrude award given to the individual who has contributed the most to recreational boating. Interestingly enough, many 'knock-off' brands have appeared over the years touting outboard motors such as the Evenride company which faltered in the 1960s.

Sources

A Moving Tribute. The outboard motor turns 100.. (2006, September 21).  Boating. https://www.boatingmag.com/boats/moving-tribute/

 

Catalog ID AD0328

Gai's Bakery

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Text on Button Henry and Phil Gai are personal friends of mine
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An illustrated man holding a sign that says "REALLY GOOD!" standing next to another man holding a package while waving. The red text forms a border on the white background.

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Giglio, an Italian immigrant, opened Gai’s Bakery in 1931 in Seattle Washington. The “New Home Bakery” was located at 20th Avenue South and South Jackson Street. After ten years of business, the specialty-bread store changed its name to “Gai’s Seattle French Baking.” The two sons of Giglio, Henry and Phil, eventually took over the bakery for their father. While Phil and Henry were in charge, they turned the business into a one-stop-shop with customers, including the Space Needle Restaurant. The height of the company’s productivity was in the 1980s when they had over 1400 employees and 480 delivery trucks. Gai’s bakery supplied rolls and buns to various places from 5 star restaurants and fast-food chains to grocery stores. The two brothers worked in different capacities for the business. Phil was known as the outgoing and gregarious salesman while Henry was more reserved and tended to the baking operations as the head baker. In 1992, Gai’s Bakery merged with the San Francisco French Bread. 

Catalog ID AD0284

Hang in There Baby

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Text on Button HANG IN THERE, BABY!
Image Description

A black illustration of a cat hanging from a bar next to black text on a pink background. 

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This button is based on a popular motivational poster, the original of which little is known other than that it has a 1968 copyright and it is now in the public domain. The original image was black and white, featuring a Siamese-type kitten. Over the years there have been many variations on style of the image and phrasing of the saying, but it has held steadfast as a significant component of popular culture in the United States. This button looks most similar to a 1970s version of the poster featuring an orange tabby kitten.

Catalog ID IB0339

Basil Wolverton Gym Teacher

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Text on Button GYM TEACHER
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Illustration of a nude person with legs that curl up and behind their body, with dark green text above and below on a light green background.

Curl Text Made in Japan
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The 1965 series of LEAF "Fink Buttons" were 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 AR0072

Dave Edmund Twangin

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Text on Button ROCK
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An illustration of a guy with shaggy hair playing a cracked guitar with broken strings. He is wearing a blazer and a t-shirt that says "ROCK", and platform shoes. His left arm is bandaged and his right leg is wrapped with a wooden splint. The background is white  and the illustration is outlined in black.

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The figure found on this button is from a record sleeve found in Dave Edmund’s album Twangin… The album was released in 1981 by the label Swan Song. Dave Edmunds is a Welsh singer mainly associated with pub rock and new wave music. Many of the songs he produced were covers of other songs that he reworked to fit his style. His most recent album was released in 2013 and contained 5 new vocal recordings, the first in nearly 2 decades for him.

Sources

Erlewine, S. (n.d.). Dave Edmunds | Music Biography, Streaming Radio and Discography | AllMusic. Retrieved from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-edmunds-mn0000584923.

Catalog ID MU0156

Uncle Bob's Grennan Cake Club

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Text on Button UNCLE BOB'S GRENNAN CAKE CLUB
Image Description

Black text on a white background at the top with a photograph of Uncle Bob underneath and red and black text on a white background under the photograph. 

Back Paper / Back Info

THE WHITEHEAD & HOAG CO. 
BUTTONS, BADGES, NOVELTIES AND SIGNS
NEWARK, N.J.

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Philip H. Grennan was the founder and owner of Grennan Cakes. The business was established in Detroit, Michigan in 1914 as the Grennan Cake Bakeries and was later consolidated in 1919 into the Grennan Cake Corporation. Branches of the company, in 1921, were located in Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, St. Paul, Milwaukee, and Toledo. The company specialized in ready-to-eat cake. The ready-to-eat cake was marketed to housewives as a relief from baking on hot summer days. In a 1921 article in Printer’s Ink, housewives confirmed that they were purchasing pre-made cakes because they had “relief from baking-day work, banishing hot kitchen toil, saving time and money, quality and variety.” (p. 49). In 1924 the company was supplying cakes, cookies, and fried cakes to around 482 cities and towns. There is an announcement in Kokomo Daily Tribune from Thursday May 16, 1929 for the Uncle Bob Cake Club of Children radio program. The radio program was on NBC Chicago at 8:00 and featured 30 minutes of Music and Stories. 

Catalog ID CL0269

Abstract Art

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Multiple geometric shapes with black, white, yellow, pink, green, and light blue colors.

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6/79 handwritten in marker.

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Catalog ID AR0125