Illustration of Dracula getting out of purple coffin. Black text on white background.

Russell Berrie (1933-2003) was a businessman at heart. He began his career as a toy salesman in 1956, which ignited his passion for the toy industry. Berrie envisioned selling inexpensive toys and knick-knacks in the checkout lanes at grocery stores, targeting impulse shoppers and children. Berrie started his own business—Russ Berrie & Company—inside a rented garage in 1963 with just $500. With the company's eye-catching easy-to-grab toys, sales grew to a soaring 1 million dollars by the late 1960s. Russ Berrie & Company went on to release numerous successful toys: the Bupkis Family and troll dolls, ultimately becoming a multi-million dollar company. The company’s success continued, partnering with other toy brands, including Barbie, Carter’s, and Disney, to create popular toys under licensing agreements. 

Russell Berrie was also a philanthropist, giving back to the community and expressing gratitude for his success. One of Berrie’s largest contributions was a grant of $13.5 million to build the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University. After Berrie died in 2003, the business experimented with several mergers, ultimately leading to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. In 2011, other toy companies purchased the remaining rights of Russ Berrie & Company.

Illustrated man salivating while eating sandwich. White text on red background.

A "freeloader" is someone who takes advantage of the charity, generosity, or hospitality of others. It was possibly originated as a trucker’s slang for "somebody who had goods carried along with somebody else's cargo at no charge." But by 1930s, its meaning had shifted to mean the sponger or schnorrer.

Its first documented use could be found in Daily Messenger (Canandaigua, N.Y.) on August 23rd, 1933: "He was inducted into office as the new president of Madison Square Garden..with the customary beefsteak gorging ceremonies and all the members of the freeloaders association in attendance." It was also alleged that "Freddie the Freeloader," a character from  50s-60s TV program The Red Skelton Show, popularized the word. 

Illustration of a freckle faced boy with a red hat and blue striped shirt. Blue and red text on a white background.

Illustration of a rabbit wearing a coat and hat running with text underneath. White illustration and text on a black background. 

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Red and blue text, red and blue illustration of electric fan blowing on chicken. White background.

This button is a play on words. The picture on the button illustrates the literal meaning of "cool chick" -- a hen in low temperature, whereas the expression is generally used to describe a fair, and perhaps laid-back, young woman. 

"Chick" as a colloquial term for "young woman" it is first recorded 1927, supposedly originated from U.S. African American dialect. In British use in this sense was documented circa 1940; the term was popularized by Beatniks in late 1950s.

Black text and red heart on white background. 

The I heart NY logo was created in 1977 by Milton Glaser for an ad campaign created by advertising agency Wells Rich Greene. The marketing campaign was sought by then-Deputy Commissioner William S. Doyle to increase tourism in the state of New York. The campaign was a wild success. The original sketch of the logo is permanently on display at the MOMA.

The logo has become iconic in pop-culture and has been imitated in many forms around the world.

White script on red heart on white background

This pinback was a giveaway prize from an A&S department store in the mid 20th century. A&S, also known as Abraham and Strauss, was founded in 1865 in New York City by Abraham Abraham and Joseph Wechsler. The department store was originally named Wechsler and Abraham, but the Strauss family bought out Joseph Wechsler in 1893, renaming it Abraham and Strauss. Years later, the company would become a part of the Federated Department Stores Inc. and most of the A&S department stores would change their name in1994 to the more widely known Macy's name, another company under the Federated Department Stores Inc.

White heart with black text on a red background.

The "New York Loves You" campaign was initiated in 1981 and designed by Katherine Manisco, an art director at the advertising agency Wells, Rich, and Greene. The new campaign served as an extension of 1977's "I ♥ NY" campaign, also designed by Wells, Rich, and Greene, as well as graphic artist Milton Glaser. At the time, New York City was making a concerted effort to rebrand itself from a crime-ridden, nearly bankrupt city in 1975, to a hospitable tourist destination. New York State deputy commerce commissioner Natel Matschulat hoped that the new slogan would make tourists feel "welcomed," and "sensitize people to the need to love tourists." 

Black text on a light background with the text "Let's Love ONE ANOTHER" written over a heart.

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Green text and red heart on white background

Sherwood Youth Camp is a summer camp located in Dahinda, Illinois.

This is a variation of the "I heart NY" logo that was created in 1977 by Milton Glaser for an ad campaign created by advertising agency Wells Rich Greene. The marketing campaign was sought by then-Deputy Commissioner William S. Doyle to increase tourism in the state of New York. The campaign was a wild success. The original sketch of the logo is permanently on display at the MOMA. The logo has become iconic in pop-culture and has been imitated in many forms around the world.