Painted image of black curved shapes around a white circle on a tan background. 

This hand painted button was created by an unknown artist and found in a closet in Wicker Park, Chicago. 

White illustration of two figures dancing on a dark blue background with white text along the bottom edge.

Illustrator Thomas E. Powers (1870-1939) is known as the first American to draw a color comic strip for a newspaper, the New York Evening World. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, educated in Kansas City, Missouri, and worked briefly in Chicago, Illinois before moving to New York City in 1894. His most well-known comic is "Joy and Gloom" and features a character named Joy.

Illustration of The Riddler, enemy of Batman, in blue costume with black question marks.  White text and white question marks on a red background.

The Riddler was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Dick Sprang. This character commits crimes revolving around an obsession with riddles. He leaves challenging clues behind his crimes to prove that he is smarter than others.

Robin flying in the air with a full moon backdrop. Blue and red letters on a purple button.

Dick Grayson, a fictional superhero otherwise known as Robin from the DC Comics comic book series, Batman. He was Batman's sidekick and adopted son. The youngest in a family of acrobats known as the "Flying Graysons", Robin's character first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940. After Robin saw his parents die at the hands of a mafia boss who sought to extort money from the circus, Batman takes Robin under his wing as a legal ward and the two become inseparable. When Grayson grows older and spends more time with the Teen Titans, he retires as Robin and becomes Nightwing. Others fill in for Grayson's role as Robin upon his departure.

Color illustration of a woman with pink glasses, long wavy hair, green shirt and a blue jacket smoking a cigarette. Black text on a white background. 

The cover illustration from the 1st edition of Patricia Welles' 1967 novel BABYHIP features a character smoking. One review describes BABYHIP as a cult sixties novel about a rebellious teenage girl who tries to break into the swinging Harvard scene. Cleveland Press reviewed the heroine, Sarah Green, as the" thoroughly original creation of novelist Patricia Welles...wonderfully alive...preposterously funny...the best of the beat, bored, turned-on generation."

Illustration of a black asterisk with purple, pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue areas shaded in between each point on a white background. 

This design was created by artist Jesse LeDoux for the Fall 2004 Button-O-Matic series by Busy Beaver Button Co. 

Born in Portland, Oregon, Jesse LeDoux worked as an art director for Sub Pop Records where he created work for artists such as the Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, and Iron and Wine. He has worked on commercial illustrations and collaborative projects for companies such as Nike and Disney, and has had his artwork exhibited internationally. More of LeDoux's work can be found on http://ledouxville.com/

Red text in a white speech bubble with scalloped edges on a red background. 

"I Believe in You" is a design by artist Cody Hudson based on the Neil Young song by the same title. Cody Hudson (b. 1971) is a Chicago based artist whose work has been exhibited throughout the world. Hudson began as a graphic designer but has experimented with painting, illustration, sculpture, and digital graphics. Hudson founded the commercial art house Struggle Inc., which is known for its clean graphics, urban modernism and organic visual deconstruction.

Hudson designed this button for the Summer 2010 Busy Beaver Button Co. Button-O-Matic series. The Button-O-Matic is a gumball style vending machine that dispenses limited edition art buttons.

Illustration of a black asterisk on a white background.

This design was created by artist David Shrigley for the Fall 2004 Button-O-Matic series by Busy Beaver Button Co. David Shrigley (b. September 17, 1968) is a British visual artist best known for his bizarrely humorous cartoons and a deliberately crude, outsider art style. A 2010 interview with Time Out London describes Shrigley's art as "tragicomic", which "takes a darkly sardonic mirror to his everyday thoughts, decisions, and problems".

Full color portrait illustration of FDR

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd US President. He was the only president to serve more than 2 terms, from 1933-1945, was a central US figure during the Great Depression and World War II.

White text on greyscale background to the right of an image of George McGovern in suit and tie.

Produced in support of George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign, this button captures the optimism and energy that was the essence of the McGovern campaign.

An American historian and author, McGovern was elected to the Senate in 1962 after a previous failed bid in 1960. As one of the first politicians to speak out publicly against America's growing involvement in Vietnam, McGovern would become most known in the Senate for his outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War. McGovern's platform during his 1972 presidential campaign included a comprehensive plan to end the war in Vietnam, a substantial cut in federal defense spending, and a "demogrant" program—which sought to replace inflated welfare bureaucracies with a pledge to give every American citizen $1,000. McGovern's "demogrant" program was dropped from his platform in August of that year after it was severely criticized as a "liberal giveaway." Although McGovern captured the votes of activists and reform liberals, his opponent, Republican incumbent Richard Nixon, managed to defeat McGovern in one of the biggest landslides in American history.