White text that becomes light blue (indicating water) with a spigot at the end of the S with red text below it on a dark blue background.

This button was created by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California to promote the conservation of water. Headquartered in Los Angeles, MWD was created in 1928 by the California legislature to build and operate the Colorado River Aqueduct in order to bring water to the expanding population of southern California. Today, MWD owns and operates an extensive water storage and delivery system and provides water to over 19 million people. It is the largest distributor of drinking water in the United States.

Orange text on a black background.

The button was made by Russ Berrie and Company, founded by Russ Berrie in 1963. They specialized in baby and juvenile products and was indeed incredibly successful. The button was produced to elicit humor. The company also manufactured sold a wide variety of gift items that included stuffed animals, mugs, picture frames, and various accessories. Berrie believed their products needed to change according to consumer needs, and this ideology is the key to success.They expanded internationally and owned factories in Taiwan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, France, and other countries. However Russ Berrie and Company faced financial difficulties in 2005, and the majority of its stake was sold to Prentice Capital Management. After the deal, Prentice Capital Management will become the largest shareholder of Russ Berrie and Company. 

A male cartoon character is skiing awkwardly down a mountain.  The background is white with the cartoonist name “Jim Benton” written in black text above the words “mr. skier”, which is located at the bottom in bold black lower case letters.

Award winning American cartoonist, artist and author, Jim Benton, first gained success in the 1980’s with licensing his cartoon “Misters” series. The comic drawings display the ineptness of the Everyman in various situations. With the success of the “Misters,” he created a series with the female version of the character, the “Ms.” Recently, he authored the Franny K. Stein and Dear Dumb Diary book series.

Yellow button with black, capital letters.

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Illustration of 3 bright red anthropomorphic lips below black text on yellow background. 

The Tang Trio of Lips singers were advertising characters for the Tang Orange Drink company. Tang is a fruit flavored drink that was used by NASA on John Glenn’s “Mercury” flight in 1962.

White and purple button with purple and white text.  Top 3rd of the button is white, bottom 2/3rds is purple.

“If coke is a joke, I’m waiting for the next line” is a reference to the powerfully addictive stimulant drug cocaine, also known as coke, snow, blow, cola, heaven dust, or nose candy. The expression humorously compares the drug to a joke that has the audience waiting for the punchline. In the context of drug use, a line is a small amount of powder usually snorted through the nose. A more popular variation of the joke is “coke is a joke, and I can’t wait for the next line.” The shorter iteration “coke is a joke” can also be interpreted as “drugs are fun.”

A male cartoon character is playing tennis poorly against a white background with the cartoonist name “Jim Benton” written in black text above the words “mr. tennis”, which is located at the bottom in bold black lower case letters.

Award winning American cartoonist, artist and author, Jim Benton, first gained success in the 1980’s with licensing his cartoon “Misters” series. The comic drawings display the ineptness of the Everyman in various situations. With the success of the “Misters,” he created a series with the female version of the character, the “Ms.” Recently, he authored the Franny K. Stein and Dear Dumb Diary book series.

White text on a blue background.

The line is in reference to the 1933 Mae West and Cary Grant movie I'm No Angel. West plays Tira, a dancer and lion tamer at a carnival. After running into trouble, Tira is in dire need of money. Tira asks Big Bill Barton, the owner of the carnival for a loan. Big Bill only will only agree to a loan if Tira puts her head into a lion's mouth in a stage act.

When one of Tira's admirers, Jack Clayton (Cary Grant) compliments Tira on one of her acts, she replies, "When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better."

Cartoon illustration of a red anthropomorphic mouth wearing blue pajamas and holding a daisy below black text on a yellow background. 

The Tang Trio of Lips singers were advertising characters for the Tang Orange Drink company. 

Gray button with white text.

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