“Let Green Duck Come To The Aid Of The Party”
David Marantes, Class of 2022, Government and History
The Green Duck Company was established in 1906 by George G. Greenburg and Henry J. Duckgeischel. The two were coworkers at a Chicago engraving business, Childs and Co., until Greenburg left the company in 1904. In 1908, the fledgling company was able to secure contracts to provide the official badges of both the Democratic and Republican presidential conventions. From the beginning, the Green Duck company catered to all political parties that could be potential customers.
This pamphlet, from 1960, specifically targeted Democrats, while another targeted Republicans. The button slogans are catchy but generic, not focusing on policy but instead memorable slogans, a testament to the art of mainstream political culture of the time. As Elizabeth King writes in Time, the 1960s were transformational, with political buttons changing “from a straightforward show of support for a particular candidate to pieces of art that speak to the overall political discourse.”
Even so, it seems that Green Duck was more concerned with profits than with public art. Indeed, in 1960, the Vice President stated that “We were as happy to be of service to the GOP as to the Democrats, and vice versa. Where politics is concerned, ‘I’m For Me’ and Green Duck is for Green Duck. That’s the way it’s got to be.”
Source
Let Green Duck Come To The Aid Of The Party, Green Duck Co., 1960. Susan H. Douglas Political Americana Collection records #2214, Box 63, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, ID# 2214PA0473d_001
https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:12503478
Bibliography
Andrew Clayman, “Green Duck Company, est. 1906,” Made in Chicago Museum, accessed April 16, 2021, https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/green-duck-co/.
“Buttons Pick the Victor.” Business Week (Journal Collection (H.W. Wilson)), July 25, 1964, 34. https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.library.cornell.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asb&AN=518731663&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Elizabeth King, “The Long Story Behind Presidential Campaign Buttons and Pins,” Time, accessed April 17th, 2021, https://time.com/4336931/campaign-buttons-history/.