Greyscale photograph of Bruce Springsteen on black background. Blue text on upper right portion of button. 

Bruce Springsteen is an American singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist known for American and working-class themes in his songs. His most successful album was 1984's Born in the U.S.A.

The River is Bruce Springsteen's 1980 double album. It featured the artist's first top-ten single of his music career, "Hungry Heart." While this album was released before his huge spike in popularity a few years later, it was an important step in his music career. 

Color photograph of Bob Dylan singing into a microphone.

Born Robert Zimmerman, Bob Dylan is an American singer, songwriter, and cultural icon. Many of his songs reflect political and social themes, such as the 1964 "The Times They Are a-Changin." Thus, his work was very popular with activists in the civil rights movement and anti-war movements. His music style is primarily folk, though he has at times incorporated rock and roll, blues, and gospel. He has also become widely known for his lengthy tours. In 2012, he released the album Tempest, which received some critical acclaim. 

Greyscale photograph of Bessie Bellwood wearing an elaborate hat. White background. Black text centered on bottom portion of button. 

Bessie Bellwood was a popular music hall performer in the Victorian Era. She sang "Coster" songs, taking the onstage persona of a fruit vendor, and was very popular with working-class audiences. She was skilled in improvisation, and often incorporated audience members into her songs. She was a woman of some notoriety: a skilled boxer, she was arrested for striking her maid. She was also known for her "relations with the Duke of Manchester and subsequently with the Marquis of Ailesbury," and became an alcoholic before her death from heart disease at age 39.

Greyscale cut-out photographs of the Beatle's faces on a white background. Blue text wrapped around outer edge with hot pink insects. 

The song "From Me To You" was written by Beatles members Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It was released as a single in 1963 on the Parlophone label, and was the band's first number one song in the United Kingdom.

Photograph of the Beatles posed with naked, dismantled baby dolls. White background. 

The Beatles' album Yesterday and Today was released June 15th, 1966.  Robert Whitaker designed the controversial album cover, later to be referred to as the "butcher" cover. Some believe the cover was used for the Beatles to voice their opinions on how Capitol Records "butchered" and altered their albums for the American market. Other sources state the true meaning of the cover was to protest the Vietnam War. Due to public demand, the cover was replaced.  This incident was the first time the Beatles were negatively criticized by the media.

Lenticular button switches between two images: 1) Black text on white background and grey scale photographs of Ringo, Paul, John, and George. 2) The same, with each band member's name in black text replacing their face. 

Made in 1964, this lenticular button is one of the earliest American-made Beatles memorabilia items. The misspelling of Beatle as "Beattle" is a mystery. 

Cartoon image of a beagle, gorilla, lion, and elephant holding musical instruments on a bright yellow background. Black printed handwriting style text curved along bottom portion of button. 

The Banana Splits were a fictional rock group featured in The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, a children’s variety program that ran from 1968 to 1970 on NBC Saturday mornings. The Banana Splits were composed of Fleegle on guitar, Bingo on drums, Drooper on bass, and Snorky on keyboards. Each episode featured a meeting of the “Banana Splits Club”, with the Banana Splits being members of the club. In 1972 ABC aired a feature film, The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park. The Banana Splits theme song has been covered by acts such The Dickies and Liz Phair, while other songs performed by The Banana Splits have been covered by Mr. T Experience and Girl Trouble. 

Image of black high heeled boots with spurs on a yellow background. Red text aligned bottom center and slightly curved along bottom edge. 

Adam and the Ants were a punk/New Wave band active from 1977-1982. The band released three albums, and hit songs included "Dog Eat Dog," "Stand and Deliver," and "Ant Music." In 1982, they received a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist but lost to Sheena Easton.  Although the lineup changed, the band was always led by singer/songwriter Adam Ant. Ant has maintained a highly successful solo career since the band split in March 1982. 

Red, black, and yellow image of firefighter's head and shoulders. White background with black text curved along upper portion of button. A cloth-backed piece of paper in the shape of the rotund firefighter holding a bugle-like musical instrument hangs from the bottom of the button, completing the figure. 

This is a conference badge for the Virginia State Association, now known as the Virginia State Firefighters Association. The association was founded in 1886. The dates listed on the button indicate the days of the conference, which was held in Covington. The conference still occurs in late August of each year. 

Color photograph of a troll doll, with image cut off at the hair on upper edge of button. White background with blue speckles. Pink synthetic hair extends about three inches off the top of the button. 

Troll dolls were originally created in 1959 by Danish fisherman and woodcutter Thomas Dam. Dam could not afford a Christmas gift for his young daughter Lila and carved the doll from his imagination. They became one of the United States' biggest toy fads in the early 1960s. They became fads again in brief periods from the 1970s through the 1990s and were copied by several manufacturers under different names. During the 1990s, several video games and a video show based on troll dolls were created. In 2003, the Dam company restored their United States copyrights, stopping unlicensed production. In 2005, the brand was modernized under the name Trollz, but it failed in the marketplace. The brand was revived with a Trolls movie in 2016 and continues in popularity today with sequels and spin offs.

See more innovative and unique buttons in action on the Busy Beaver blog.