Illustration of Yummy Clare wearing a red dress, her hands are spread out and the name of her show arches overhead in rainbow colors. The background is sky blue and dotted with clouds.

The Yummyfun Kooking Series was a 2008 cooking show for kids hosted by Clare Crespo, or "Yummy Clare," with her entourage of both puppet and human co-stars. Most notably, John C. Reilly played a recurring role as Yummy Clare's neighbor, a sea captain. Along with three full length episodes and 13 mini-episodes of the series, viewers could sign their kids up for the Yummyfun Kooking Club which included cooking supplies, recipes, and a letter from Yummy Clare in the mail every month. In 2013, Crespo's Yummyfun promotions dwindled and she shifted her focus over to physical art mediums such as pottery and illustration. In 1993, well before the beginning of Yummfun, Crespo played bass for indie musician Beck on some of his early, unreleased work.

Red text on a white background, with a red checkerboard pattern on the outer edge.

During World War II, U.S. soldiers experienced extreme hardship, physically and emotionally, resulting in desired moments of joy and distraction. The catchphrase, "Go Fly a Kite," first emerged in the 1940s to deter any unwelcome presence for those who wanted to be alone. These patriotic checkered buttons were produced to lighten the moods throughout the war. The collection's color scheme and checkerboard style were a way to express gratitude, yet it consisted of borderline-risque catchphrases and humorous taglines, providing light-hearted amusement for those who wore these pins.

Black text on yellow background with a black checked pattern running along outside edge.

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Black text on an apricot colored background. A black checked pattern runs around the outer edge.

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Black text on a green background, a black checkerboard pattern wraps the outer edge.

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Black text on a pale green-yellow background. A black checkered border runs around the edge.

“Jeepers, creepers, where’d ya get those peepers? Jeepers, creepers, where’d ya get those eyes?” Thus begins the chorus to the jazz standard, “Jeepers Creepers,” written by Jonny Mercer and Harry Warren for the 1938 movie Going Places. ‘Jeepers Creepers’ is a ‘minced oath’ stand-in for ‘Jesus Christ.’ (A minced oath is a kind of euphemistic stand-in for a word of profanity, much like the terms ‘heck,’ ‘shoot,’ and ‘gosh.’) Just two years prior, in 1936, the company AAA printed safety posters that read, “Jeepers Creepers, Use Your Peepers!” to warn drivers to stay vigilant on the road. Then, in 1939, the phrase and song both featured in a cartoon starring Porky Pig and his investigation into a haunted house; it was with this feature that the phrase became associated with creepy, haunted, and spooky themes.

Soon after, ‘Jeepers Creepers’ could be seen on everything and anything, from posters to buttons. In the 1940s, carnivals gave out checkered pin-back buttons as game prizes and souvenirs, many of which had funny phrases like “You’re the One” and “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No ‘Mo.” This “Jeepers Creepers” button may be a variation of this, but instead of the typical red and white checker print along the border, this has black and white, a call-back to the phrase’s spooky theme.

White text on a blue background.

In 1972, the Senate race for Delaware was a standoff between incumbent J. Caleb Boggs and New Castle County Councilman Joe Biden. With minimal campaign financing, Biden employed several family members to help run his campaign and relied heavily on donations. Buttons like these, under the purview of his brother and campaign finance manager Jim Biden, were sent to donors. Biden went on to win the 1972 Delaware Senate election. 

Orange background with a black line illustration of a man with a large cluster of balloons tied to his waist flying through the air.

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Red smiley face and black text on a rust stained yellow background.

“Souriez en Français” translates to “smile in French.” This is paired with a smiley face similar to the classic yellow smiley face that was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Pink background with purple text.

Naomi Fatouros, of Bloomington, Indiana, ran for Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) Board Trustee in both 1976 and 1980. In the fall of 1980, Fatouros made headlines after a court ordered the local newspaper to run a political ad (paid for by Fatouros) attacking her opponent, Ernest Horn, for not supporting non-English-speaking students. Fatouros scheduled the ad to be published night before the election, which went against the newspaper's policy that barred attack ads from running without sufficient time for an opponent’s response. The court determined that since Fatouros already paid for the ad, the newspaper was required to run it despite their policy.

This wasn't the first time Fatouros made headlines: four years earlier, she was a vocal critic of the inclusion of bibles in the MCCSC curricula.