Elf

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Text on Button ELF
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Red bar stool behind cut-out black letters on an eggshell background.

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ELF Miniatures is a British company that specializes in making dollhouse furniture and other miniatures such as cars. Most of their items are produced on a 1:12 scale, while others are produced using other scales such a 1:24 scale. ELF manufactures scaled-down versions of kitchen, dining room, and bedroom furniture including barstools, sofas, and beds.

Catalog ID AD0226

Howard Trophies

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Text on Button HAPPINESS IS...TROPHIES FROM HOWARD TROPHIES
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A laughing clown outlined in black surrounded by black text on a yellow background.  

Curl Text SAN FERNANDO, CA
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Howard’s Trophy Shop is located in San Fernando, California. It provides custom engraved plaques and trophies.

Catalog ID AD0251

Sofoem

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Text on Button SOFOEM CHEVROLET POUR IT ON!
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A yellow oil container bearing the Chevrolet label is outlined in red on a yellow background with red text on the upper right and a red stripe on the bottom left.

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Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Catalog ID AD0225

Mumps

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Text on Button I'VE BEEN EXPOSED TO MUMPS digital
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Very small, centered and capitalized white text above larger fish-eye, bubble font and "digital" logo on a cerulean background.

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Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System (MUMPS) is a data management programming language developed in 1966 at Massachusetts General Hospital by Digital Equipment Corporation. The software is noted for its “built-in” database, and its access through variable input rather than queries or sequences. It was designed for the healthcare industry, specifically for admissions and laboratory testing reports, and is still used in the medical field today. Digital Equipment Corporation was a highly successful computer company that ran from 1957-1998.

Sources

Barron, B. (2017, November 29). The Ultimate Guide to DEC & Digital Equipment Corporation. Retrieved July 3, 2018, from https://digital.com/about/dec/

Digital Equipment Corporation: Nineteen Fifty-Seven to the Present (Rep.). (1978). Retrieved July 3, 2018, from http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/digital/dec 1957 to present 1978.pdf

More MUMPS. (1990, September 17). Compterworld, 24(38).

MUMPS Resource | Learn About, Share and Discuss MUMPS At Defaultlogic.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.defaultlogic.com/learn?s=MUMPS

Catalog ID AD0191

Toyota Builds Quality

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Text on Button Toyota Builds Quality
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White text with red shadow descending diagonally from upper left.

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Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese motor vehicle manufacturer that was founded in 1937. They are currently headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi in Japan. Toyota is a current top 5 seller of vehicles in the United States.

Build quality is a term for how well the car is manufactured. Factors that influence build quality include how many repairs it needs, cost and ease of maintenance, comfort, interior noise, aerodynamic drive, miles per gallon of gasoline, and more. Although a car may look aesthetically pleasing on the exterior, which may initially interest a buyer, what keeps buyers satisfied for longer periods of ownership is a good build quality.

Many American consumers look for things that are manufactured in America to consider the quality of them by seeing the build and how things are made. In many American vehicle factories, the production has a layer of transparency to the public seeing what is going on by offering tours or promoting upcoming changes. With foreign manufacturers, the in-person build quality experience is more difficult for the American public to see. Beginning in the 1980s, Honda and Toyota started manufacturing certain parts in America to win over the American audience with a "Made in America" seal of approval on their vehicles.

Sources

Wright, M. (2019). 10 Reasons Why We Buy Japanese Instead of American Cars. Retrieved 4 December 2020, from https://www.motorbiscuit.com/reasons-why-we-buy-japanese-instead-of-ame…

Catalog ID AD0160

Be Kind To Your Typographer

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Text on Button be kind to your typographer TYPE DIVISION atf
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Lowercase, typewriter font, right-aligned, first four words in blue and last word in red, to the right of gold type division logo on a white background.

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A typographer is someone who specializes in the art of typography. The ATF (American Type Founders) was an amalgamation of 23 type foundries in the United States created in 1892. It represented about 85% of all type manufactured in the U.S. and until its dissolution in 1993 it was the most important type foundry in the country.

Catalog ID AD0234

Motobecane Motorized Bicycle

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Text on Button I GET 218 MILES PER GAL ON THE MOTOBECANE MOTORIZED BICYCLE
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Large bold red text centered on a yellow background with smaller red text centered near the bottom of the button.

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Motobécane, founded in 1923, was a French manufacturer of motorcycles, bicycles, motorized bicycles, and mopeds. The company’s name was derived from two French slang terms: “moto” (for motorcycle) and “bécane” (for bicycle). After World War II, when demand for efficient and inexpensive transportation soared, Motobécane introduced an early moped called the Mobylette. Motobécane also took over production of the the VeloSoleX moped brand 1974.

Moped production increased in the 1970s due to the energy crisis and inflation. The Solex 4600 (known as “The Horse”) was introduced to the United States by Motobécane in 1974 and was noted for its fuel economy of 218 miles/gallon. Motobécane declared bankruptcy in 1981 and was purchased by Yamaha. Renamed MBK, the company produces scooters for the European market. The Motobécane brand name is currently used by a U.S. company that imports bicycles manufactured in Taiwan. Vintage Motobécane mopeds are still popular among moped enthusiasts.

Moped madness. (1977, July 4). Time, 110(1), 72.

Catalog ID AD0249

Say Seiko

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Text on Button SAY SEIKO®.
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Large white text centered on a blue background.

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In 1881, at the age of 21, Kintaro Hattori opened a timepiece shop named, “K. Hattori & Co. Ltd,” in Tokyo. After many great successes, a major earthquake, and timely restoration work, the SEIKO brand was launched in 1924. SEIKO proved many times that they were at the forefront of time-keeping technology. In 1953, their commercial became the first radio commercial and TV commercial in Japan. SEIKO were the official time-keepers for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games as well as the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. They went on to manufacture the timers for 4 Winter Olympic games: 1972 in Sapporo, 1994 in Lillehammer, 1998 in Nagano, and 2002 in Salt Lake City. In addition, they introduced the first first wrist watch in Japan, the World’s first 6-digit LCD watch, and the World’s first GPS solar watch which auto-adjusts the correct time for the wearer based on GPS signals.

Sources

The Seiko Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/seiko_history/ayumi/

Seiko Milestones. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/seiko_history/milestone/

 

Catalog ID AD0250

Houlihan's Old Place

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Text on Button HOULIHAN'S old place
Image Description

A yellow woman with flowing locks perched on the edge of a spiral vortex, flower in hand, surrounded by large, surreal red and yellow flowers, text above, on a red background.

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Same design image printed in black.

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Houlihan's Old Place is an American style casual dining restaurant. The restaurant first opened its doors in 1972 in Leawood, Kansas now has over 50 franchise locations across the United States. The image on the button is the logo for Houlihan's Old Place in the 1980s, it was printed on menus, matchbooks, souvenirs, etc.

Catalog ID AD0235

Cymbol

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Text on Button cymbol
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A striped, multi-neon-colored triangle kite with lead makes waves through the bright blue air above a white logo with nested "c" and "y".

Curl Text CYMBOL CYBERNETICS CORPORATION OTTAWA
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Cymbol Cybernetics Corporation was a Canadian high-tech company that specialized in computer-aided design/manufacturing software. Cybernetics can be defined as the science of the control of complex systems of various types such as technical, biological, or social, with a specific emphasis on it's use in the creation of control systems in technology and in living organisms. In 1985, Cymbol Cybernetics produced a new, computerized console for naval destroyers used by the Canadian Navy.

Catalog ID AD0232