Archibald Wasson For Assembly

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Text on Button FOR ASSEMBLY ARCHIBALD WASSON
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Black and white photograph of Archibald Wasson surrounded by black text on a white background.

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Made by F. F. Pulver Co., Buttons, Badges.  Rochester, N.Y.  Get a Collection of Buttons.  Send for Catalogue.  Patented Feb 17, 1903, Apr. 19,1904.  Union Bug.

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Archibald Wasson was the Prohibition candidate from Livingston County, N.Y. in the 1904 New York State Assembly race.  He lost the race to Republican James Wadsworth, who later went on to have a successful career in Congress. Although not much is known about Wasson, the Prohibition Party has campaigned to end the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcohol since 1869.

Catalog ID PO0024

Kerr Log Cabin Button

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Text on Button KERR
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The text appears as an illustration of brown logs beneath a brown log cabin on a white background with illustrated grass and trees

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A sticker is attached to the back which states "LOG CABIN - Birthplace of ROBERT S. KERR - Indian Territory 1896"

Curl Text Bastian Bros Co., Rochester, N.Y. - Two union bugs
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This button is from the birthplace of Senator Robert Samuel Kerr, Oklahoma’s first native-born governor and a U.S. Senator.  Kerr was Governor of Oklahoma from 1943 until 1947. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1948 where he served until his death in 1963. The log cabin was located in what was once Native American Territory near Ada, Oklahoma.

Catalog ID PO0048

Daley Red and Blue Stripes

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Text on Button Daley UFCW Union Made
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Blue text on white background bordered by a thick red line and thin blue line.

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Presumably made in support of Richard M. Daley's 1989 campaign for the mayor of Chicago, this button took advantage of the ubiquity of the Daley name in the Second City. Richard M. Daley's father, Richard J. Daley, was the mayor of Chicago from 1955 to 1976—the longest serving mayor until his son assumed the office in 1989. Prior to becoming mayor, Richard M. Daley served in the Illinois Senate as well as the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. After his inaugural election, Richard M. Daley was re-elected five times, serving nearly twenty-two years in office. Amidst dismal approval ratings and an endless string of scandals, Daley waived his opportunity to run for a seventh term as mayor in 2009. 

Catalog ID CH0028

Rahm Emanuel For Congress

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Text on Button Rahm Emanuel Democrat For U.S. Congress
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Red and blue text on white background.  Red stripe running underneath "Emanuel" and a blue star next to "Democrat For U.S. Congress".

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The button pictured above was either manufactured in support of Rahm Emanuel's 2002 or 2006 bid for the 5th District Illinois House seat. Former investment banker and Clinton staffer from the mid-to-late 1990s, Emanuel jumped head first into Illinois politics when he ran as a Democrat for the 5th District House seat in 2002. The seat was formerly held by now-disgraced politician, Rod Blagojevich, who in that year successfully ran for Governor of Illinois. Emanuel's inaugural election in 2002 was the closest he had ever had, winning every election thereafter by increasingly wider margins. During his tenure in the House, Emanuel had progressively entrenched himself within the base of the Democratic Party, eventually assuming chairmanship of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in 2006.

Upon President Obama's inauguration in 2008, Emanuel was chosen as the administration's Chief of Staff. In 2010, Emanuel announced his plans to resign as the White House's Chief of Staff in order to campaign for mayor of Chicago. Emanuel was elected as the 55th Mayor of Chicago with 55% of the vote, and was sworn in on May 11, 2011. 

This button was manufactured by the Busy Beaver Button Co.

Catalog ID PO0068

President Carter Peanut Man

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Text on Button I don't want to be a Peanut Man Make me PRESIDENT CARTER Peanuts for sale
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White text on red and blue borders.  Image/photograph of Jimmy Carter pulling a peanut cart.  Black text on yellow cloud near Carter's head.

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This light-hearted caricature of Jimmy Carter pokes fun at his humble beginnings as a son to a peanut farmer in rural Georgia. Produced in support of his 1976 campaign for presidency, the button helped reinforce the Washington "outsider" image Carter sought to cultivate amongst voters. It appealed to the majority of Americans—many of whom felt disillusioned and skeptical about national politics amidst the aftermath of Watergate.

Carter narrowly won the election against incumbent Gerald Ford. His relative anonymity before the campaign, untainted political image, and humble beginnings helped catapult him to the White House in 1976.

Catalog ID PO0081

Carter Smiling Peanut

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Text on Button Carter for President
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Red and black text on white background .  Red stars surrounding an image of a peanut with Jimmy Carter's teeth imposed on the image. 

Curl Text C 1976 J.L. Minton
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In the wake of the Watergate scandal and Nixon's resignation, Jimmy Carter's Washington 'outsider' image caught the eye of disillusioned voters who were fed up with the politics 'as usual' mentality corroding Capital Hill. Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, a rather uncharismatic and aloof president, came out of the Republican primaries bloody and beaten, and nearly twenty points behind Carter in the polls. Much of this was due to the strength of west-coast conservative firebrand, Ronald Reagan.

Part of Carter's success in the 1976 election can be attributed to the effectiveness of his grassroots campaign. The "Peanut Brigade," a group of volunteers, friends, and other Carter supporters from Georgia, led his campaign to a string of victories throughout the primaries, including an important win over George Wallace, an arch-segregationist and former governor of Alabama. In the end, the election was close—Ford closed the lead Carter had once enjoyed in August, but the latter came out on top, becoming the 39th president of the United States. As historian Douglas Brinkley once observed, "It was the right message at the right time. And it didn't happen by accident. Carter created that message, knowing that that's what would win the day."

Catalog ID PO0080

Humphrey For President

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Text on Button H.H.H. - Humphrey for President
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A lenticular image with bold red text and a photograph of Hubert Humphrey above black text on a blue background.

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VARI-VUE by Pictorial Productions, Inc.  Mt. Vernon, N.Y., U.S.A. Pat. No 2,815,310.  Union Bug.

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Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr (H.H.H.) served as the 38th Vice President under President Lyndon B. Johnson, from 1965 to 1969. Humphrey began the 1968 presidential campaign as Johnson’s running mate, but when it appeared that primary would not end in Johnson’s favor, Humphrey challenged Johnson for the Democratic ticket. Humphrey won the nomination however, President Nixon eventually won the general election.  

Catalog ID PO0045

Goldwater AU H2O

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Text on Button AU H20 1964
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Black text on a gold and white lenticular background. The gold "gears" seem to mesh and move with each other when looked at from different perspectives.

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Dimensional Research Burlingame, California Pat Pending (Stamped in Metal)

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This interesting button has the chemical equation for Goldwater and shows gold "gears" in motion. Barry Morris Goldwater (1909-1998) was a 5 term US Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nomination for the 1964 Presidential election. He lost the election to Lyndon B. Johnson, but remained active in politics, retiring in 1987.

Catalog ID PO0003

Jesse Jackson For President 1988

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Text on Button Jesse Jackson for President 1988 - Union Bug
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Photograph for Jesse Jackson centered on a yellow background above a white rectangle with black and blue text.

Curl Text SA Stein DW Duncan Creative Photo Crafts
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Jesse Jackson is a civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and politician. Jackson ran for president on the Democratic ticket in both 1984 and 1988, making him the first African American man to make a serious bid for the U.S. presidency. He received 6.7 million votes in the 1988 primary, however Michael Dukakis won the Democratic nomination. 

Catalog ID PO0049

Ford Carter Undecided

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Text on Button Ford? Carter? Undecided
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Black and white text on a red, white, and blue background.

Curl Text Oct 76 N.G. SLATER CORP., N.Y.C. 11 AFL CIO LOCAL 64
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Designed for the undecided voters of the 1976 presidential election, this button underscores the derisiveness permeating the 1976 election. Voters had to choose between a relative unknown, a Democratic candidate from Georgia by the name of Jimmy Carter, or the seemingly awkward incumbent Gerald Ford. In the end, the American people chose Carter. His modest upbringing on a Georgia peanut farm, for many at least, had been a welcome change. The majority of Americans had simply become disillusioned with the perceived ruthlessness and callousness of Capital Hill insiders amidst the aftermath of Watergate.

Catalog ID PO0074