White ring around edge of button with red text inside. White shape in the middle of the button with red text and a small blue illustration of a shoe. Blue background.

This button features the emblem of the Boot and Shoe Workers' Union (BSWU). Shoe unions existed in the United States through the 18th and 19th centuries - 1794 marked the formation of the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers. Cordwainer was the name given to a footman or leatherworker. In 1895 a number of these organizations came together to form the BSWU in Boston, that served as an affiliate to the American Federation of Labor. The BSWU even had an officall magazine at one point entitled The Shoe Journal. The union spread rapidly, having 14 branches in Canada by 1914.

Up until the 1960s the BSWU thrived but foreign made footwear's introduction into the market mixed with and job exportation caused a sharp decline in membership. The BSWU in response merged with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) in 1977. This merger formed the Footwear Division of the Retail Clerks.

At the time this button was produced, the public had great sympathy for organized labor so much so that socialist and labor activist Eugene V. Debs garnered half a million votes for president in 1904 and 1908. At the latter portion of the Progressive Era that saw labor so fondly, Debs was able to get nearly a million votes in the 1912 presidential election.

A lenticular image with black text and a yellow background. There is a black border around the button.

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Two lines of black text sandwich one line of white text over a centered black stripe on a white background. 

The design on this button was originally created by Holoubek Studios in the 1970s. It was a graphic used as an iron on.

Holoubek Studios Inc. is a Wisconsin based apparel company founded by Verne Holoubek in the 1960s. The company pioneered the heat transfer process that created the iron-on t-shirt popular between 60s and 80s. 

An illustration of a fixed gear bicycle with front and back fenders and a rear rack. The background is orange and the illustration and border around the button are outlined in red.

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Illustration of a blue owl on a branch with a yellow circle behind its outstretched wing and a white background.

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A black and white photograph of a man's profile looking to the left. He is wearing a black bow tie and suit jacket, and a white shirt. The background is off white.

Photographic pinback buttons made with celluloid material were extremely popular from the late 1800s to the 1930s.  It was during the 1860s that photography became more available on the commercial market. Humphrey E. Copley of Connecticut sought a patent in 1861 to incorporate photographs onto buttons by utilizing a metal rim to hold the photograph in place. This technology coincided with the Civil War and mourners embraced the option of being able to wear visual representations of their loved ones. John Wesley Hyatt was an American inventor who received a patent for a product named celluloid in 1870. After refinement of the initial product, Hyatt’s celluloid became the first commercially profitable synthetic material. United States patent records reflect the usage of celluloid in making buttons with photographs in the late 1880s. In 1893 Benjamin S. Whitehead acquired a patent for using celluloid over the photo to protect the image. The increased availability of photography coupled with the ability of manufacturers to produce buttons inexpensively allowed the public to create a fashion fad out of the desire to have portable keepsakes.

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A drawing of the profile of an eyeball showing the nerves behind the eye. The illustration is white and the background is black.

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The word "that" is underlined. The text is blue and the background is yellow.

Isaac Kaufmann Funk founded the American publishing company called Funk & Company in 1875. The company changed its name to Funk & Wagnalls Company in 1877 when Adam Willis Wagnalls became Funk’s partner. The company initially published religious books but shifted to reference materials in 1890 with its first Literary Digest. The company is most well known for A Standard Dictionary of the English Language and the Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia. The dictionary was first published in 1894 and continued to have revised editions until 1943. The encyclopedia was first published in 1912, and continued to be published throughout the 1970s. Customers could purchase volumes of the encyclopedias at their local grocery stores. Funk & Wagnalls Company was sold in 1965 to Reader’s Digest.

As a well known publisher of encyclopedias, the phrase, "look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls," referred to someone condescendingly using a large word in conversation that the other person would have to research to learn the meaning by using their encyclopedia.

Illustrations of a boy and a girl on the upper right side and black outlined text on teh left side and bottom on a yellow background. 

The Middy and Westy Fun Klub was a club that was associated with the Midwest Dairy Corporation. The Midwest Dairy Corporation, at its most productive, covered the country from the Great Lakes region all the way to Mexico. In the Monroe Star, May 17, 1950, there was a brief article announcing the purchase of Gold Creameries by the Chicago based Midwest Dairy Corporation. This article also explains that the dairy had farms in 10 states prior to the purchase. Middy and Westy were “the Midwest Quality and Flavor Twins” that not only served as a marketing tool, they also functioned as the representatives of the Fun Klub. Although it is difficult to find information about the Klub itself, two articles were found where Middy and Westy were mentioned. In the Hope Star newspaper on March 22, 1951 Middy and Westy appear to announce a give away of two Schwinn bicycles. The Arkansas based paper explains that one “prize coupon” will be issued for every five Midwest Dairy Corporation bottle caps or carton tabs. The prize coupons all go into a drawing for the Schwinn bikes. Middy and Westy also appear in an article in the Daily Register (Harrisburg, IL) on April 4, 1950 for an Easter egg coloring contest. 

A illustration of a dark green four leaf clover with a lighter green and white center. The clover is surrounded by white, light green, and dark green sections.

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