Illustration of the Space Needle. Red text and black text running diagonally across the Space Needle on white background. 

The Space Needle was built in 1962 for $4.5 million dollars, and took 13 months to complete.  Over 2.3 million people visited the Space Needle during the 1962 World's Fair. Today it welcomes over 1 million visitors per year.

Illustration of a cardinal perched on a dogwood tree branch with white flowers.  Black text against a white background encircles the illustration.  White text in a red heart is set below the cardinal.

“Virginia is for Lovers” is the tourism and travel slogan for the state used since 1969.  The cardinal is the state bird, and the state tree and flower are the dogwood. 

VFW stands for “Veterans of Foreign Wars.”  This organization has roots tracing back to 1899, when veterans of the Spanish-American War arrived home sick or wounded.  There was no medical care or pension for them, so they were left to care for themselves.  Some of these veterans banded together to secure rights and benefits, and by 1936, the group had grown to almost 200,000 members.  Since then, the VFW has made many achievements on behalf of veterans.

Red, white, and blue illustration of a two-tier cake that reads "Happy Birthday" in red cursive. Blue text runs both vertically and horizontally around the cake on white background. 

Buffalo, New York celebrated its Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) on June 6, 1982. Following the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, which led to increased commerce and population, the city was incorporated in 1832. At the time, Buffalo's population was around 9,000, which surged to 81,000 by 1850. Commemorative items from the Sesquicentennial celebration included mugs, plates, buttons and souvenir programs. A granite time capsule was carved with an image of a buffalo and engraved with the inscription "Sesquicentennial Time Capsule, 1832 - 1982" on the front and back. The time capsule is sealed and permanently located in downtown Buffalo in front of the City Court Building. 

The number "84" set off-center in white text against a blue, circular background bordered in gray.  Underneath "84" is a white and gray wavelike design.  Surrounding this logo, on the rim of the button, is a white background with black text.

The "world’s fair" was a large international exhibition of a wide variety of industrial, scientific, and cultural items that are on display at a specific site for a period of time, ranging usually from three to six months. Since 1970, the world's fair has been themed, often environmental in nature, rather than a celebration of a historical anniversary or a colonial empire like the earlier fairs. Many of these modern themed world's fair were shorter festivals held in smaller cities compared to Paris, New York, Chicago, and other headliners of the early 20th century. The 1984 fair was held in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Louisiana World Exposition's theme was "The World of Rivers—Fresh Waters as a Source of Life." The expo was plagued with attendance problems and subsequently gained the dubious distinction of being the only exposition to declare bankruptcy during its run.

The bankruptcy and bad publicity of the 1984 New Orleans World’s Fair would lead to a three decade pull back of the United States from the World's Fair landscape, with subsequent withdrawal from the Bureau of International Expositions. Although New Orleans was a success from an exhibit standpoint, unrealistic attendance estimates made the fair as a whole a failure with a low attendance of seven million. The previous world fair held in Knoxville, Tennessee drew in eleven million.

Illustration of a man playing a red accordion and reading sheet music.  The man is clad in stereotypical German Oktoberfest clothing with short grey shorts, brown vest over a white shirt, a triangular grey hat, and knee-high brown socks. Thin green line runs around the border of the button. Red text, black text, and green text on white background. 

A souvenir from the 1982 Kitchener-Warterloo Oktoberfest, the button pictured above features Onkel Hans, a portly German man with a felt hat and lederhosen who is the mascot of the festival. The nine day annual festival takes place in the twin cities of Kichener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The festival currently attracts an estimated 750,000 to 1,000,000 visitors each year.

Four green interlocking ovals set against a brown circle which sits inside a mustard-yellow square in the center of the button.  The number "11" is repeated in black on each side of the square.Black text printed around the border of the button on yellow background. 

This button was created for the purpose of advertising the 2011 imperatives for the Department of Education of Iowa. It’s based on sharing the current level of academic achievement in Iowa and ideas on how to improve it. Various reports were released; one such report that was released centered on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education plan. It introduced a new framework called “Response to Intervention” that it hoped to use to advance the education system in Iowa.  

Illustration of a settler riding in a covered wagon being pulled by two oxen.  Black, bold text on orange background.

In 1972, Kensett Iowa celebrated its 100^th anniversary with a festival and established Centennial Park which is currently used for yearly town anniversary celebrations, and other outdoor events. Kensett is a small rural community in Worth County formed in 1872 shortly after the railroad was built through that territory. It was named after a Baltimore oyster packer named Thomas Kensett who vowed to build a church in the town if the citizens named it after him. The community was named Kensett but the town’s namesake never fulfilled his promise.

White text above an illustration of a brown walrus on blue background.

The 49th state to join the United States, Alaska was purchased from Russia on March 30, 1867 for $7.2 million (approximately two cents per acre).  Alaska's state sport is dog mushing, the state fossil is the Wooly Mammoth, and the state mineral is GOLD!

The Pacific walrus (pictured) inhabits the Bering and Chukchi seas to the west coast of Alaska.  They prefer shallow waters and eat mainly clams. The average adult male weighs over 2,700 lbs and is 10.5 feet long.  Both the male and female walrus has tusks which can reach over 3 feet in length.

Illustration of two hot air balloons on sky-blue background. Three white clouds are positioned to the left of the two hot air balloons. Red text inside each white cloud. Yellow text on first hot air balloon reads "Read 1,000,000 Minutes" with a black illustration of a child reading. Second hot air balloon has a yellow and red zig-zag design. Black text on yellow border. 

The button pictured above most likely served as a souvenir for Read-A-Million participants in a 1985 event in Iowa. The 'Read-A-Million Minutes' program was started in 1981 by Duane Boehmke, an elementary school principal from Denver, Iowa. Since then, the program has been active in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arizona, and Georgia. Even internationally, in such places as Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Peru. The Read-A-Million minutes program is developed and coordinated by the State Area Education Association Educational Services, with help from state educators throughout Iowa.

Thin black line encircles an illustration of a Russian dancer wearing tall black hat, red jacket, and blue pants. Black text on white background. 

This is a tourist souvenir produced by the Sitka, Alaska's Visitors Bureau, the button has an image of a Russian dancer on it, which was the bureau's symbol, or 'mascot,' during the 1970s.