Black and white illustration of a blue whale on a white background. 

The Blue Whale, at approximately 100 feet in length and 200 tons, is the largest known animal ever to have lived on Earth. A blue whale’s tongue alone is larger than an elephant; its heart is larger than an average-sized car. Despite their large size, blue whales are not aggressive predators. Rather, they subsist on a diet of almost solely krill—tiny shrimp-like animals. Blue whales usually swim alone or in pairs, and can be found in all the oceans around the world. In addition to owning the title of largest animal, blue whales are also considered the loudest animals on earth. Like other whales and dolphins, blue whales use groans and pulses to both navigate and communicate.

Blue whales have few natural predators, however they were driven to near extinction by the mid-20th century due to aggressive hunting. They became a protected species in 1966, and though populations have grown to some extent since then, as of 2015, the blue whale is still officially classified as an endangered species. It is thought that there are between 10,000 to 25,000 of these gentle giants currently living in the wild.

Painting of a train on a bridge with smoke coming out of the train. Button has different shades of blue.

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Red illustration of a man sitting in a bathtub with yellow text on the bathtub on a yellow background. 

Promotional item for the Broadway play You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running, a series of four one-act comedy plays by Robert Anderson. 

Abstract design of a red circle inside of a yellow multi-pointed star shape on a black background. 

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Illustration of a man's head with his mouth wide open and tongue sticking out with yellow text on a blue background. 

This button is from the 1965 series of LEAF "Fink Buttons" illustrated by popular Mid-Century artist Basil Wolverton. Perhaps best known for his work at MAD Magazine, Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978) was an American cartoonist and illustrator famous for his humorously grotesque drawings. Wolverton worked in the "Golden Age" of comic books doing features like "Powerhouse Pepper" and "Spacehawk" in the 1940s. A 2009 New York Times article states that Wolverton’s drawings embodied the “sick-and-proud humor” of MAD magazine and were considered a “virtuoso exercise in bad taste, made all the weirder for being so meticulously executed.” 

Abstract design of overlapping black spirals on a white background. 

The visual distortion in the spiral optical illusion design is caused by combining a regular line pattern (the circles) with misaligned parts (the black and white dashes),  so the spiral appears to be in motion. Some artists who have worked with optical illusions include M. C. Escher, Bridget Riley, Salvador Dalí, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Marcel Duchamp, Oscar Reutersvärd, Victor Vasarely and Charles Allan Gilbert. 

This design was produced by the Underground Uplift Unlimited, a slogan button and poster head shop ran by Randolfe Wicker on St. Marks Place in East Village between 1967 and 1971. Wicker closed the shop after becoming disillusioned with pot and psychedelic culture.

Illustration of a smiling man's face with a wrinkly forehead; when the button is turned upside down the man is frowning. Black and red text on a white background.

Advertisement for Champion, an American brand of spark plugs. Champion was a Fortune 500 company founded in Boston in 1908. Their National Spark Plugs Change Week became the accepted time for car dealers and mechanics across the country to perform spark plug checks. 

Illustration of a man's face with two hands protruding from his forehead. Yellow text on a red background. 

This button is from the 1965 series of LEAF "Fink Buttons" illustrated by popular Mid-Century artist Basil Wolverton. Perhaps best known for his work at MAD Magazine, Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978) was an American cartoonist and illustrator famous for his humorously grotesque drawings. Wolverton worked in the "Golden Age" of comic books doing features like "Powerhouse Pepper" and "Spacehawk" in the 1940s. A 2009 New York Times article states that Wolverton’s drawings embodied the “sick-and-proud humor” of MAD magazine and were considered a “virtuoso exercise in bad taste, made all the weirder for being so meticulously executed."

White text and an illustration of a buffalo and of a donkey on a brown background. 

This button is most likely related to the 1901 Pan-American World Fair Exposition held in Buffalo, New York. The exposition was from May 1 through November 2, 1901. It was intended to showcase trends, developments and innovations of the time.

"RUA Buffalo (picture of a buffalo) U Can (picture of an oil can) Bet Your (picture of an urn) Ass (picture of a donkey) I am" was used on souvenir tokens for the 1901 Pan-American World Fair Exposition in Buffalo, NY. 

Are you a Buffalo? was a phrase used in relation to the exposition.

Red, black, and blue illustration of four stick figures holding hands and two red balloons beneath blue outlined clouds and a solid black skyline. Blue and red text on a white background. 

This button was designed as a contest entry by artist Caleb Lyons for the 1996 Rochesterfest in Rochester, MN. As the winner of the button design contest Caleb won a trip to Florida with his family.