A peach colored hot air balloon attached to a red trolley car full of people, set to rise over the Pacific coastline. Illustration fills the button, sky to land; red text on top circles around the balloon in the sky, black text on bottom wraps around the ground.

The Balloon Route Trolley Trip was one of several sightseeing excursions that ran daily from Los Angeles on Pacific Electric Railway tracks in the early 1900s. (map of routes) The original tour route resembled a balloon-shape, hence the name.

The Excursion Manager, Charles Merritt (C.M.) Pierce, took visitors from Los Angeles to the ocean, then north 28 miles along the coast, visiting ten beaches and eight cities. The Balloon Route included visits to Hollywood and Beverly Hills, National Soldier’s Home, Playa del Rey, Redondo Beach, Moonstone Beach, Venice of America, and free admission to The Camera Obscura at Santa Monica. Each day long guided trip was sold for one dollar per person. "The Best $1.00 Trip in the World"

White lettering on edge of rim, blue lettering in the center, with red background

The Auburn Automobile Company (1903-1936) was begun in 1875 as the Eckhart Carriage Company by Charles Eckhart of Auburn, Indiana. WWI forced the car maker to close its plant and Eckhart's sons later sold.

It wasn't until 1924 that Errett Lobban Cord, a successful car salesman, was approached to run the company. His response was to take over the entire company which he did, leaving his mark on automotive history. It is this period that our button belongs to. It is here that Cord partnered with Duesenberg Corrporation to launch a line of expensive luxury automobiles.

These vehicles displayed state of the art engineering and didn't skimp on visual appeal. They are arguably some of the most beautiful motor vehicles ever manufactured. Timing, though, was not on their side and the Depression contributed to the end of production in 1937. The products of this collaboration continue to be highly sought after due to their rarity, design and styling.

Grey background with gradient green graph lines. Illustration of a cartoon centipede at the top looking down at the text as if ready to pounce. The game logo CENTIPEDE is in dark green, "New and only from" in a red script, followed by the ATARI logo in orange.

Centipede was originally released by Atari in 1981 as an arcade game. Drop a quarter in and the centipede emerges at the top of the screen, scrolling down through a mushroom patch. The player manipulates a trackball controller and single button to fire at, and hopefully kill, the insect segment by segment before it reaches them at the bottom. Add some fleas, scorpions, spiders and catchy sound effects and that's Centipede.

Of the early video games, Centipede's design team was one of the few to include the rare female, software engineer Dona Bailey. She has later discussed gaming culture at the time, mostly a male industry, and how she ended up working on Centipede. Trying to avoid the overabundance of violent shoot-em-up games, she chose Centipede because although it included shooting, "it didn’t seem that bad to shoot a bug.”

Light green background with black text. Two black and white cartoon eyes look upward above the text.

Produced for Armstrong World Industries, makers of ceiling and flooring products based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The curious "Ceiling Watcher" was one of a series that Armstrong used in print and television during the 1960s. Subsequent themes were titled "Ceiling Doctor" and "Ceiling Master" - "Master craftsmen made a ceiling worth looking at."

Armstrong World Industries traces its roots to a $300 purchase in 1860 of a small cork-cutting shop in Pittsburgh by the 24 year old Thomas Morton Armstrong. He sold cork bottle-stoppers to the Union Army during the Civil War and gained a reputation for the quality of his product. Stamping his name on each cork, he became a pioneer in the use of branding to promote his business. From corks to cork boards to ceiling and flooring, the 150+ year old company has grown into a global leader.

Outer border of navy blue containing text circles an illustrated set of wings extending from the vertical letters "AMLA" that are centered on the brownish-gold background. 

The American Boy was a monthly magazine was published by The Sprague Publishing Company of Detroit, Michigan.  Featuring action stories that were appropriate for boys, the magazine ran from 1899 to 1941.  

Black and white illustration of a candlestick telephone behind large white text '50' on a dark blue background.

This elegantly simple button was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the telephone. The date is less clear. Does the button mark 50 years since Alexander Graham Bell came up with the theoretical concept for the telephone in July 1874; or the successful receipt of his words "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you" on March 10, 1876; or Bell's patent on the telephone in the same year; or maybe it's commemorating the establishment of the Bell Telephone Company in 1877. If one wants to be particular, the candlestick phone depicted in the illustration wasn't introduced until the 1890s.

The invention of the telephone included many individuals whose contributions could very well be considered worthy of a 50th anniversary button including: Elisha Gray, Antonio Meucci, Johann Philipp Reis, Tivadar Puskás, and Thomas Edison. 

Red text on gold background.

The Chunky candy bar was first introduced in the 1930s. It was less of a candy bar and more of a block of chocolate. It was the creation of a New York City candy maker, Philip Silvershein whose ties with William Wrigley Jr., helped distribute the first Chunky bars.

According to legend the unique trapezoidal shape was arrived upon by Silvershein who after contemplating a pyramid shaped block of plaster, chopped off the top! The original recipe was simple: chocolate, cashews, raisins and Brazil nuts. The cashews and Brazil nuts were replaced by the less expensive, but still tasty, roasted peanut when Nestlé took over the brand in 1984. Since the original Chunky bar was a single trapezoid, this button was likely created after Nestle launched the shareable version: four joined trapezoids so you could break off a piece to share with friends.

The 1970s commercials showed a young boy eating one and claiming it was "Thicker-er." Another earlier one went straight to the point: "Chunky, What a Chunk of Chocolate." Enjoy some classic Chunky commercials:  Open wide for Chunky and When you say Chunky, you've said a mouthful.

Button with pennant attached. Button shows photo of Big Bill Lee wearing the Chicago Cubs baseball cap. Felt pennant reads  "Chicago Cubs" on faded blue with white trim. Arched text reading "Big Bill Lee" is at bottom of pin.

William Crutcher "Big Bill" Lee was a right-handed pitcher for the Chicago Cubs from 1934-1943, and again in 1947. He led the Cubs to the World Series in 1938. His 139 wins with the Cubs are still ranked ninth in franchise history.

Read more about the History of Cubs Buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

 White text on red background. The Cambria font evokes bygone era.

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

Black and white photograph of a man in a white suite with a black bow tie in front of a greyish background.

Harry "Woo Woo" Stevens was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A noted banjo performer, he got his start in New York City at the age of 23, having traveled there to try out for the New York Yankees. A baseball career was not in the cards for him, but his life changed when Babe Ruth heard him playing the banjo in the Yankee's locker room. Recognizing his talent, Babe got Woo Woo to enter the Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour talent show. Woo Woo won, and that started his career as an entertainer. Performing from Broadway to Hawaii and everywhere in between, Woo Woo traveled the country performing for decades. Relocating to California in the 1960's, he remained there until his death on June 26th, 2013 at the age of 98.

The Blackhawk restaurant was a Chicago fixture for decades. Founded on December 27th, 1920, they became famous across the country for their live radio show called  "Live! From the Blackhawk!". The restaurant removed their dance floor and stopped hosting orchestras in 1952, and remained in business as strictly a restaurant until finally closing on August 31st, 1984.