Vintage GEEN DUCK made in CHICAGO USA green MISS-ED AMERICA! novelty pin as seenFor six decades, Chicago’s oddly named Green Duck Company was one of the country’s leading manufacturers of campaign buttons, along with many other small metal advertising novelties. In a city almost proudly notorious for its political corruption, this unshakeable firm was refreshingly cavalier in its non-allegiance to any particular party, candidate, or cause. Instead, they happily stamped out paraphernalia for anybody willing to pay the going rate for it—be it the local game warden or the President of the United States.In 1936, for example, Green Duck produced many thousands of the penny-sized pinback featured in our museum collection, calling for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a “Gallant Leader.” True to form, however, the company was also a key cog—just four years later— in the anti-Roosevelt merchandising machine of FDR’s 1940 presidential opponent, Wendell Willkie. That year, by early October, Green Duck’s Wicker Park plant had shipped out 20 million Willkie buttons compared to roughly 8 million for the incumbent, with many of the most popular sellers using slogans like: “Roosevelt for Ex-President,” “No Roosevelt Dynasty,” “No Third Termites,” and of course, “We Don’t Want Eleanor, Either.”
Unlike many of their clients, Green Duck was never directly linked to organized crime, but their self-serving modus operandi and political sway bared at least a little resemblance. Unfortunately, when profits took a turn for the worse, the company’s founder also met a tragic and violent end worthy of a gangster story.
Vintage items are very old and are subject to imperfections due to age.
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